The Loudest Hell
by Blue Baron
Summary: A terrible virus has plunged the world into a burning inferno. This virus turns people into mindless flesh eating zombies, hell bent on eating every human in sight. Will the Louds survive? Or will they succumb to this hell on Earth? Will the other group be able to save them, or watch their loved ones die? Sexual themes now involved.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

The year is 2020, 4 years after the virus that raised hell on earth. February 14, 2016 otherwise known as Z-day. This virus takes control of the mind and turns people into flesh-craving monsters. The entirety of the world has succumbed, and only a small percentage of humanity has survived. Littered throughout a number of small safe zones, no one really knows how many are left. It's unknown when or where the virus started, the biggest culprit being a South American drug cartel known as Ángeles de la Muerte.

2 years before the virus, they were suspected of testing dangerous viral strains in human captives. The goal was suspected to be a new form of biological weapons to control the innocents around them. It would only make sense to blame them seeing as they have a record of pulling war crimes against the local populace. In response the US government sent in a team of highly trained SEALS to deal with it, my dad being on the team.

I've been traveling with my younger sister, girlfriend, and our Pit-bull Evee. We've learned how to survive in this fucked up world. Moving from town to town, staying away of the hordes of undead.

There is only one way to kill them, and of course, it's destroying the brain. Over the years it's become more difficult because they've evolved in the short time between then and now. In the beginning, they were slow and easy to hit, then after the first year, they could walk at a normal pace. The second year they were almost at a jog, third skipped straight to running but the fourth year added the worst of it. Because once night came around they became almost superhuman…or super zombie…I guess. They could sprint, jump, and seemed to gain enhanced strength. Once again, in human history, night has become our worst enemy. The only safe way to survive at night is hunker down and pray they don't find you. With all of this plus overgrowth and dangerous wild animals, most die within a few days of leaving a safe zone. My group has learned how to sneak around hordes of zombies, get past feral animals, and traverse through the overgrowth without getting caught and this is our story, from the very beginning.

 **Act I**

 **The Beginning**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Sabrina**

On the morning of Valentine's day, 2016, the sound of snow falling from my roof had pulled me out of sleep. Pulled from a dream that I no longer remember, I woke with a smile. So it must have been happy dream. Of course, nowadays happiness is hard to come by.

At the time I was 15, gazing over to my left, the sight of my nightstand greeting me as well as a clock that read 10:35 am. Sitting up as my sight adjusted to see the several trophies resting on my walls, all of which consist of my swimming, marksmanship, and music medals that I've won over the years. Sports and Music have always been a big part of my life since I was a child. For sports, swimming and marksmanship were the only activities I actually competed in. My mom got me into swimming and my dad got me into marksmanship. And thanks to him I happen to be a damn good marksman or markswoman? One of my favorite trophies depicted a guitar surrounded by lightning. I won that during my freshman year of high school for playing the best rock song. Probably my favorite because I had the entire auditorium dancing moving along to the song, I even got a standing ovation for it. My music career consisted of electric and acoustic guitars, and I mainly focused on rock, but I also made a few country songs as well.

At the time, my father was serving as a Navy Seal, and whenever he had free time he would teach me how to shoot. Unfortunately, he was on duty and some super important mission so he couldn't be home. Back then I didn't realize it was about the drug cartel. When I turned 10 he gave me his first shotgun and sidearm, a 12 gauge Remington 870 and a Glock 23. Both weapons were "slick". Which was a term I heard my dad use all the time, it meant that the weapon had no attachments. Both hung on my wall adjacent to my bed, and right below them was a footlocker with a belt of 20 shells for the shotgun and three magazines for the Glock. Each magazine containing 13 rounds save one being extended, where it can hold 22 rounds. Leaning against it was a survival backpack, a digital camo pack with multiple ammo pouches, magazine slots, three different compartments to hold a week's' worth of rations, two if only MRE's, a Camelbak, a heavy duty survival kit and finally an IFAK. On the other side was a Blackhawk thigh holster for the Glock. Both the pack and holster were a gift to me on my 11th birthday, after that, my dad would take me on various hunting and survival trips.

I have jet black hair, which was down to my lower back, and was always up in a ponytail. Nowadays I keep it in a buzz cut because we all know that long hair and a zombie apocalypse don't mix well. I wear cargo khaki pants, a black turtleneck long sleeve shirt, with black combat boots and fingerless gloves. Thought I looked cool at the time. According to everyone besides my girlfriend, I did not.

The rest of my room consisted of posters with tanks, guns, pictures of my teams, my girlfriend and my younger sister, Liz. They all hung on sky blue walls, while my carpet was a velvety red and a white ceiling.

From my mother, I inherited her blue eyes and *eh hem* large breasts, from my father I got the height and attitude he had. Sometimes with the height and my large "assets", it made it difficult to fit through some small spaces.

"SABRINA, LIZ! COME ON DOWN!" I was brought back to reality from hearing my mom shout for us.

"JUST A SEC MOM!" I hollered back while slipping out from beneath my nice, warm comforter. As usual, I looked at my phone and saw a text from my girlfriend, Luna Loud. It read 'Good morning and Happy Valentines love, call me later!' I'm pretty sure I had that stupid grin on my face, the one I always got when getting a text from her. There was no denying she was the light of my life, that one true love everyone spoke so highly about. We'd met about a year earlier at a Mick Swagger concert. Dancing to the loud music, I didn't see her until we accidently ran into each other. Despite the embarrassment, I felt at the time, it was the best accident I ever had.

"Sorry dude, just jamming it out." She said, never once stopping the beautiful, rhythmic sway she did so well. It was love at first sight, at least for me. Just the way she looked in her cute purple shirt with the depiction of a skull and knee length purple plaid skirt, stirred up some long-buried feelings. Even her short brown hair in a pixie cut, that framed her perfectly sculpted face, seemed beautiful in the multicolored spotlights. To call her the epitome of gorgeous was an understatement. I wanted so much to talk to her, to tell her how she made me feel. For the life of me, I just couldn't manage to make my mouth utter more than a few words.

"N-no problem." I managed to stutter, trying to hide my blush and trembling knees.

"Hey, dude are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," I said, running off petrified at what a fool I'd made of myself. I thought I'd never see her again. The entire way to the parking lot, my heart kept telling me to turn around, to run back and talk to her. The way I was back then, there was no way I could have convinced my body to follow my heart. So, I did the only thing I could think of to do, I headed for mom's car. As it turned out, Luna was curious about me. I had never once thought of turning around in my frantic dash to the car. If I had, maybe I would have seen her following me. I never was good at keeping my mouth shut, and this time was no exception. I ended up blurting out how I felt, and how shy I am. Even as I said it, I thought it sounded childish and immature. The longer we talked, the more I expected her to run away. Most girls didn't like admitting they have feelings for another girl. Me, well, thanks to my mouth, I couldn't help it. At the time, I figured she would be disgusted by me. But she didn't, in fact, she did the quite opposite and told me how she felt.

"I think you're pretty cool too, we should hang out sometime!" She stated with a smile. From that point on we began to hang out almost every night. After meeting her family, a month later, I knew we were a couple, even if most people didn't. So when I got her text, I knew my life could never get better than it was right then.

"SABRINA!" My mom shouted out again.

"Coming mom!" I replied finishing my hair. I left my room to see a picture of my family hanging on the wall adjacent to my room. Our house was a two story, three bedroom house about 2 blocks away from where Luna lives. I go down the hallway to see my Pitbull Evee, anxiously waiting for me.

"Hi, Evee!" I spoke as if I was talking to a baby, smiling when she started jumping up and down happily barking. We got her about the same time I met Luna, she was just a puppy under our porch and we couldn't bear to get rid of her. Since then I've been training her to be a guard dog, although most wouldn't think it seeing how excited and happy she gets when she sees new people. She followed me down to the living room where my mom and little sister were sitting on the couch. My sister Liz is only a year younger than me, she was a short one though. At the time she was only 4'5", pretty short for a 14-year-old. She has Auburn hair and green eyes, her hair was also in a ponytail, only she had her bangs covering her left eye. She had freckles stretched across her very pale face, from cheek to cheek. Every day was a new fashion sense for her, her favorite outfit though was a baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants.

Out of everyone in the family, she lacked the skills to shoot a gun. Her decision which neither my mom nor dad agreed with, but ultimately respected. She knows how to defend herself after taking fighting classes, but that's the extent of her knowledge. Although she has been opening up to trying to use a firearm recently. Away from that, she tried to be the family comedian, but her lame puns and terrible jokes never made anyone laugh, except for Luna's younger sister.

In her family, she has 9 sisters and 1 brother, one of her sisters, Luan Loud was their family comedian, although in a similar boat as Liz, so they got along famously. She was also close friends with Luna's older sister Leni, they both shared a similar fashion sense.

"Bout time you woke up!" Liz said while sitting next to mom watching TV.

"Hey, I needed that extra sleep." I groggily retorted.

"Let me guess, you've been staying up playing with your guns again huh?" My mom asked sarcastically while pausing the TV. She was a beautiful woman of average height, but that was about the only average thing about her. Her name was Anna, and she had long red hair, blue eyes, and freckles across her face. Not hard to tell where Liz got her features from. She was a proud woman who knew how to kick ass. She told us that her father forced her to take martial arts at a young age so she could defend herself. And let me tell you something, you did not want to be on her bad side. Not only could she kick ass, but she took no shit from anyone and that's what made dad fall for her.

Of all the places to meet, they met in the frozen breakfast section of the local grocery store. Some guy had bumped into her and started yelling and accusing her of being a clueless bitch. My dad hadn't joined the Navy yet, so he didn't have the muscles and size, but that didn't mean he was a pushover. As he was about to intervene, she grabbed the guy by the collar threw him to the ground and pretty much ruined his life in front of everybody. Of course, this may not have been how it went down since obviously my sister and I wasn't there. He walked up to her and called her the most badass woman he had ever met, and that she scared the hell out of him. They met at 18, wed at 19, had me at 20, and my sister at 21.

"Really?" Liz had asked giving me the stink eye.

"Maybe..." Avoiding eye contact, I recollected the past few nights of taking my guns apart, cleaning them and putting them back together.

"I knew it!" Liz shouted.

"All right, can we just continue watching TV now?" Mom asked unpausing the TV.

"So, is Luna getting you anything for today?" Liz asked with a twinkle in her eyes. Apparently, she still finds it adorable that I have a girlfriend. At this point, Evee had jumped onto her lap. Even though she was a 50-pound pit bull she thought she was a lapdog, always cuddling up to us whenever we watched TV.

" _Good morning Royal Woods! And happy Valentine's day, today's forecast calls for light snow and temperatures beginning in the low 30's to mid 40's by this afternoon, turning the snow into a snowy rain mixture. We have holiday festivities taking place at the Royal woods mall all day that's free to attend. Or you can stay inside, drink some hot cocoa and enjoy time with your family. After a brief commercial, we'll come back to you with upcoming parades and events within the next week."_ The screen changed to a commercial about carpets, with the typical loud and annoying voice.

"Like she'd tell, gifts are supposed to be a surprise," I said while sitting down next to her.

"Oooh, what if it's a pretty necklace?"

"That'd be nice."

"You always look so nice in necklaces, wait, what did you get her?"

"I got us a heart necklace, you know where each of us wears a separate half with the others name on it."

"Aww, a gift from the heart. Haha, get it?"

"Ugh." Both my mom and I groaned, even Evee woke up just to groan at that. After waiting through a few commercial for the news to come back, it finally popped up. Only the newscaster seemed worried. He was looking around frantically, with a terrified look in his eyes. Similar to that of a deer caught in headlights. As he stood up, you could hear faint banging, then a crash. Followed by screams he looked past the cameras and shouted for everyone to run.

"Hmm, that doesn't seem good." Mom quizzically said getting up to go the kitchen.

"Well, that's one way to put it I guess," I replied lamely.

"Wait, what if it's serious? Liz asked, but before I could reply, tornado sirens began to blare. She was starting to freak out which began to worry Evee who was now looking at her.

"That's strange, there isn't suppose be any bad weather today." Mom said coming out of the kitchen with some water. "Sabrina, Liz, help me lock up the windows. I don't know what's going on, but I have a bad feeling about it."

As I was trying to grab Liz, I turned to the tv, only to see the camera falling as one of the cameramen are pulled onto the floor by someone wearing freshly torn clothing. A blood-curdling scream coming from the speakers as the assailant tore into the man's throat with his teeth, ripping the flesh off his bones, spraying blood everywhere. That someone- no, something, looked directly at the camera, blood, flesh and all dripping from its mouth, it moaned with a raspy growl, before tearing into its victim.

"Oh, my God…" We all sat in shock at what had just transpired, knowing full well what had just happened. Just like in the games and movies it was zombies, actual zombies.

"SABRINA, GO NOW!" My mom had snapped me back to reality with that and the slamming of a window.

"Right mom!" I shakily replied grabbing Liz. She got up but could barely stand, Evee noticed and moved to brace her. "Liz, I know you're scared, but we need to help mom."

"Y-you're right, I'm sorry." She said still looking around with terrified eyes.

"Now come on!" We went around and started locking the rest of the windows. As Liz locked the last window I pulled my phone out to call Luna, I hope to all hell that whatever's going on hasn't hit the Louds yet. As it rang Liz was slowly regaining her composure, while our mom was looking for something in the kitchen. Evee was patrolling the door, and right as Luna picked up, Evee went completely still with her ears perked up, staring intently at the window behind the TV.

"Luna?!"

"Sabrina, oh thank God, are you alright?" I could hear her say trying to not choke up, I quickly noticed that I didn't hear the typical volume of the Loud House.

"I'm fine, what about you and your family? Any injuries?"

"I'm scared, and I don't know how my family's doing. I'm just about at your house, but I think I'm being followed."

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"I was coming over to give you your gift. Please come quick, I'm scared." She nervously said.

"I'm coming, where are you?"

"Only a block away, please hurry-!" She was cut off. I mutter a few curses, looking at my phone to see that she had hung up. Grimacing, I almost frantically whirled around, racing up to my room and grabbing my Glock, along with a magazine. Racing back down I stopped at the door after I heard Liz, who had Evee in her arms, ask: "Sabrina, where are you going?"

I turned my head, speaking a bit more fervently, "Luna's out there and I'm going to get her, don't open the door unless Evee approves, no matter what!"

"Having completely forgotten my shoes, I pushed the door open to see a grim scene… Helicopters were flying by, small plumes of smoke began to rise from the city, cars raced down the street, trying to avoid anybody in their path. I looked in the direction of Luna's usual route for when she walks. I frantically looked around to try and find her. It'd be impossible to hear Luna through all the noise, so I did the next best thing and ran in the direction of her house. As I was running I was passing family's getting in their cars, running past me trying to get me to follow them. Some were running out of their house, adults pushing kids down, and all in between. Finally, I turn the corner to see the most horrific sight anyone could ever see, this man...thing had a hold of Luna.

"Come on bitch, stop fighting me! Relax and everything will be okay." I could hear that fucker say creepily as I got closer.

"No, please just let me go! Someone help!" Luna cried out which threw me past my breaking point.

"Let. Her. GO!" I shouted standing just a few feet away, anger and anxiety filled my body.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked deviously apparently not seeing my sidearm.

"Her girlfriend and I said, let her go!" I took a few cautious steps towards them.

"Oh no, not her girlfriend, listen here bitch, she's coming with me whether you like it or not!"

"I'm giving you one last chance," My voice quivers in complete rage, "Let her go." I took another step before I saw him wrap his arm around her throat.

"To hell with you! She's coming with me, and if you get any closer, I'll kill her!" As he spoke, Luna quickly stomped on his foot and bit his arm causing him to release. "Argh, you bit-" Before he could finish I lifted my Glock and shot him right in his leg, as he fell to the ground I ran to Luna who was now covering her ears. "ARGH! SON OF A BITCH!"

"Luna, oh my god, are you okay?"

"I-I-I." She could barely muster through the shock, her eyes staring through me and her mouth quivering. It was nearly enough to push me past my breaking point.

"It's okay, I'm here now," I spoke softly, embracing her tightly, "Everything's going to be alright, okay?"

"O-okay," she nods fervently as her wide eyes brim with tears.

"Come on, let's get back to my house, we'll be safer there," I try for a hopeful smile, helping her up.

"Y-yeah."

"Get back here! When I get my hands on you I swear to god!" The creep who recently held Luna hostage rolled around on the ground holding his leg. It was very apparent I hit his femoral artery. He would bleed out soon, d-did I just kill a man? I quickly push the thought to the back of my head. I grab Luna's hand and began running back. As we were explosions could be heard not too far away. More people were running towards their cars or any car they could get their hands on, other were just running away. "Whats, going on?" Luna asked holding back her tears.

"Well, to put it plainly, zombies," I replied awkwardly. "Look, I'll explain once we get back."

"Wait what about my family?" She suddenly asked.

"Are they back at your house?"

"No, Bobby and Ronnie Anne wanted to take them to a Valentine's brunch. So he took everyone after I left."

"Crap, when did you leave?"

"About five, six minutes ago."

"Have you tried calling them?"

"Yeah, no one answered." After she finished that we came up to my house, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye but didn't pay much attention to it. I still regret that mistake to this day. I tried the door, but quickly remembered what I told Liz. Evee began to bark and sudden, attempted intrusion.

"Evee, Liz it's me and Luna, let us in!" The barking had stopped which was a good sign.

"Alright!" Liz shouted as she opened the door. We burst through the doorway, to see Liz startled by our sudden appearance, Evee still standing guard, and mom holding a kitchen knife.

"Luna, are you okay, any injuries?" My mom asked while I went to grab some water.

"Considering what's going on, sure, I'm fine." She replied mildly annoyed. "Sorry, I'm just worried about my family, they went to a restaurant and I haven't heard from them."

"Don't worry Luna, I'm sure they're fine," I said as I returned handing her the bottle. I go over and quickly begin to put my boots on.

"I hope so, let me try and call them again." She said pulling out her phone. Liz and Evee were comforting her while I went to talk to my mom.

"Mom, you know we can't stay here. We have to get moving soon." I informed her.

"You think I don't know that? Where would we go though?"

"Anywhere but here. We could try to go out to our hunting cabin?"

"No, it would take too long. It's too risky."

"Then where do you sug-" I was cut off by the combination of shattering glass, and Liz screaming.

Both mom and I see the window shattered under the weight of a few zombies who were now clambering over each other to get into the house. Some of them looked like my classmates...but that's impossible, they couldn't have changed that quickly. Two of the zombies pouring in were children, didn't look over 8 years old. The boy had bite and scratch marks all over his legs, while the girl had her side torn open with her organs hanging out. Most of the other zombies had similar features. Bite wounds, or scratches, and torn open stomachs. It seemed none of them had a peaceful death.

Looking over to Liz, I see her holding onto Luna, screaming as Evee had proceeded to bite one of the zombie's legs.

"Liz, Luna, get back," I shouted, instantly getting in between them and the zombies despite the trembling fear that coursed through my veins, making my legs feel weak.

As time slowed almost to a stop I watched the zombies crawled even closer, my breath hitching at the thought of the worst possible outcomes of this exact moment. Yes, I knew I had to protect them, but I also have to protect myself, even though fear has seemingly froze me to the spot. I watch as more of them flood through the windows, crawling and clambering right to me, only one wasn't moving towards me, and that's the one that Evee had managed to pin to the ground. I came to the realization that I'm going to die in front of the two people I needed to protect the most. I tried to lift my weapon to fight, but the fear in my veins prevented me from doing so.

Just then my mother's voice shattered the fear that overtook me, "Sabrina, RUN!"

A quick glance at my feet gives me enough time to process the zombie grabbing at them. I curb stomped it as hard as I could, I turned to grab Luna's and Liz's hands, racing up to my room.

"Sabrina…what are we doing…?" Liz asked, looking at me, tears slipping down her face as she embraced Luna, nearly crushing her.

"We're snapping the fuck out of it, that's what we're doing," I nearly shouted, looking her straight in the eyes and slapping her, "Do you want to get killed?! Because that's nearly what happened to me back there!"

Luna shook her head, giving me a small frown as Liz blinked, looking at me, inquiry, and a shaken fear written clearly over the expression etched on her face, "B-but…what about mom?" Her voice almost faded

I froze for a second as the words seemingly crashed into me, as well as the realization that I completely forgot about her. I draw in a steady breath, for now, we'd have to trust that she and Evee are handling whatever the hell is going on, "She should be okay, besides she knows how to handle herself, and she's got Evee with her. Right now, we need to focus on gearing up and getting out," I try for a confident smile. "So now, I need you to go to the supply closet at the end of the hall and get the MRE's. Can you do that for me?"

"Y-yeah, yeah I can do that!" She said through a forced smile, tears slowly fading from her eyes.

"Good, now hurry, we don't have a lot of time. Luna, I know you love that skirt and you look amazing in it, but you need to put some pants on. You can borrow some of my Khaki's you know where they're at." With all the times she's been over to my house, she knows my room like the back of her hand. "Also grab the military duffel bag from the top shelf."

"Ugh, fine." Responding in a less than desirable tone, she doesn't like wearing pants too often and when she does she gripes about it. She goes over to the closet and shuts herself inside while she changes, after she closed the door Liz came back in with the MRE's.

"Awesome, alright we need to hurry, so remove everything but the food. We'll put some in my bag and the rest in the duffel when Luna's done."

"Okay!" As Liz started stripping down the MRE's I went over and started to prepare my weapons. I wrapped the belt around my hip, securing it, making sure it wouldn't come off while I'm running. Next, I strapped the thigh holster to my left leg, seeing as I'm left handed, and then I strapped the Glock into it. Finally, I secured my shotgun onto my backpacks left side, after securing it in place I place both extra magazines into the pack's holders as well, after making sure none would fall out I slung it onto my back. It had clips that would go together over one's chest, well I don't think they took females into account because I had to embarrassingly clip it under my "large assets."

"Luna, you ready?" I asked while Liz was putting the MRE's into my pack.

"Yeah!" She shouted back opening the doors pulling the duffel bag down, well more like trying to, I could grab it just fine. Seeing as I was a foot taller than her since then she's caught up, but as she was trying it came loose and fell on her, causing her to fall over.

"Haha, you alright babe?" I asked while laughing, forgetting the worries of the world for but a few moments.

"Yeah, wait, are these Camelbaks?" She asked pulling one of them out.

"When did you get those sis?" Liz asked putting the last MRE in.

"When dad was here last. We went out and bought them before we went hunting. We got you, and mom one since we already had our own."

"So then what about Luna, she'll need one, won't she?"

"Yeah, you're right, well if we're lucky we can find one if we ever come across a store. Alright, get the duffel loaded with MRE's and some water." Getting the MRE's in was no problem, but getting to the water was the issue. As she loaded in the last MRE we heard screaming coming from the living room.

"MOM?!" Liz and I screaming in unison.

"Luna grab the duffel, come on hurry!" I panicked hoping everything was alright, even though deep down I knew it wasn't.

"Got it!" Luna had secured the bag onto her back, and once she did that we wasted no time racing down to the living room. We nearly tripped over each other getting down to her, only to greeted by a grisly sight. There were dead zombies everywhere, bits of brain and skull littered the living room, not a single spot was spared from the gore. Liz and Luna immediately threw up at the sight, I had seen my fair share of internal organs and blood, but never was it human, and even I had trouble keeping my composure. As I looked around more, I saw more collateral damage, the TV was busted resting on a corpse, curtains were ripped, shattered glass covered the couch and floor, Evee had blood covering her mouth but thankfully didn't look injured. I hadn't seen the worst of it yet though. I looked over at my mom who was standing there covered in blood and bits, a bloody knife hung from one hand while the other covered a bit of her arm. At her feet was a dead zombie with flesh seeping out from its jaws. Her face said it all.

"Mom?" I asked weakly. By this point, Liz and Luna recovered respectively and Evee was there doing her best to comfort them. But it was this moment that broke my heart, Liz looked at mom asking her the same thing before bursting out into tears again. We all knew what happened. Luna took Liz in her arms and began weeping herself. She saw our mom as another mom which made it hard for her to see this.

"Look, sweetie, I know this is hard to see but you need to be strong. You need to take care of Sabrina, you too Luna." She looking to them. "And you Sabrina, you-" Before she could finish she fell to her knees. "Oh god, it burns so much!"

"Mommy!" Liz shouted running towards and embracing her. That pushed me past my breaking point, I cried at the sight, I'm going to lose my mother… why is this happening? Luna walked up and hugged me from behind, burying her face into my hair.

"Looks like it does transmit through biting and fast, just like the movies, damn. Sabrina, you need to take everyone and go, even Evee. We all know I won't be able to make it too far." She said through clenched teeth, holding back tears, holding onto the Liz she continued. "You need to run and hide, try to find your father if he hasn't been turned into one of the damn things. Please hurry, I don't know how much longer I have." Luna's embrace became even tighter and I could feel her crying.

"Mommy, please, you'll be fine. You won't turn into one of those things." Liz cried out covering her clothes in our mother's blood, while her knees and feet were rubbing around in the blood of the undead.

"Elizabeth, I have to be straight with you. I can feel it, I don't have too much time left. So please, I don't want you to see me turn. So be strong and go, please." At this our mother began to cry, dripping large tears onto Liz's arm. She tried to push Liz away but she had a death grip on her. "I love you, Elizabeth, so much."

"I love you too mom!" At this Luna came around to my front and hugged me, even more, burying her face into my chest crying even more.

"Please let me go." Our mom begged. I tapped Luna on the shoulder letting her know to let go and I walked over the Liz to pull her off. I wrapped my arms around her stomach pulling her away. All while hiding my tears and fears. She scratched for our mom wanting to hold her even more.

"NO PLEASE!" Liz shouted trying to break free.

"Sabrina, take them and go, hurry. I love you both so much. So live, be strong and survive this. Show those undead monster back to the grave." She then looked over to Luna. "Luna, take good care of my daughter. I love you too, so please be strong." Every word forced more blood out.

"I love you too mom." I manage to force out holding onto a squirming Liz.

"I will don't worry, I love you too." Luna confidently said through her tears.

"Now go!" Our mom screamed. I let go of Liz and fortunately she stayed still, looking at the ground instead of running back to mom, but I couldn't bear to watch anymore so I signaled for Evee to follow while I grabbed Luna's hand. We took off towards the back of the house, Liz wept and I held on tightly to Luna, still crying, we dashed through the dining room, then the laundry room. Once we reached the back door I went over to the window, peeked through and saw that the coast was clear.

"On 3 we go, 1...2...3!" We burst through the door about to face this hell we called Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Loud Family

Lincoln Loud, the snow white haired boy, was bracing himself against the door.

"Hey there," he exclaims while looking straight at the audience, "You're all probably wondering why I'm forcing the door closed with all my might, well you see, it's mine and Ronnie Anne's first Valentine's day. So my sisters are going crazy trying to figure out what I'm going to do for her." Lincoln sighed as the force on the opposite side got stronger and the screaming grew louder. Finally with the help of one of Lisa's explosions the door blew open. I screamed as I flew back against my wall with my sisters barging in surrounding me.

"What did you get her?"

"Are you taking her anywhere?"

"You better do something nice or I'll pummel you!" And more consistent shouting filled my room from everyone speaking at once, I could barely understand any of what they were saying.

"Ladies, Ladies," I shouted over them to get their attention, "please, just calm down for a moment, and I'll tell you." They almost instantly shut up, looking at me with gleaming eyes and hands clasped together anxiously waiting to hear what I had to say. "I was going to take her to the arcade for a few hours, then take her to get some ice cream." My sisters didn't like that at all, Lynn balled her fist ready to hit me, while the rest started screaming at me, calling me inconsiderate, and cheap. I love my sisters but dang, are they annoying. "Guys, she doesn't like all that lovey dovey stuff, just like the Sadie Hawkins dance, she wanted to go to the arcade instead."

"Still bro, you should at least buy her something, like a teddy bear, or a necklace," Luna suggested.

"Speaking of that, what did you buy Sabrina?" Lori chimed in, turning her attention to Luna's girlfriend, Sabrina, and losing complete interest in me.

"Oh, I got her a box chocolates, a bouquet of purple roses, and then a ring with a jade gemstone seeing as it's her favorite gemstone. Chunk helped me get that, pretty expensive but I'd do anything for her." Luna said with a light blush.

"Aww!" We all said which made her blush even more. Normally, Luna doesn't act super girly like Lori or Leni, but when it comes to Sabrina, she becomes the biggest pile of mush. Sometimes she can be worse than Lori and Bobby, which isn't an easy thing to do.

"Aww shut it you guys," she blushed slightly before regaining her composure and turning to me, "Hey, just take what I said to heart, ok?" She promptly smiled at me, brimming with happiness, then turning to looking at all of us, "Alright dude and dudettes, I'm going to go get the gifts ready for her, so I'll be in my crib if you need me." She left, which still meant there were 9 sisters in my room, possibly about to pummel me.

"Hey, Linky, didn't you say Ronnie Anne was coming over?" Leni asked.

"Yeah, she said sh-" I tried to say before being cut off by Lori.

"She's literally bringing my Bobby boo boo bear with her!" She exclaimed happily.

"Ugh every time that ridiculous nickname is said, its gives me a headache!" Lisa, my younger, yet smarter sister groaned.

As she finished her sentence, our lights began to flicker, which was normal for us, considering this house holds 11 crazy kids and two parents that think they know how to fix everything. So none of us really bat an eye at it, and we were still in the room exactly where we were before the lights stopped when my sister Lucy chimed in, making us all jump,

"So anyway, why don't we show her my coffin collection while they're here."

"No, I'm not going to show her your coffins," I replied mildly annoyed, but thankful as the doorbell rang before any of my sisters could chime in again. We all ran down to see that it was Ronnie Anne and her brother Bobby.

"Babe!" Bobby said running up to Lori and hugging her, to which Ronnie Anne and I gagged.

You would think I would have gotten a similar greeting, "Hey lame-o." Ronnie Anne snickered as she punched my arm.

Unfortunately, that was not the case, "Hey, Ronnie Anne." I winced while rubbing my arm, "So are you ready to head to the arcade?"

"Well, about that," she said with distaste, "Bobby actually wants to take us all to a Valentine's brunch."

"Really Boo boo bear?!" Lori burst out with excitement.

"Yeah, babe, why do you think I've been saving my money lately?" Bobby replied pulling her in for another hug. "I'm treating all of you to a brunch!" To which most of my siblings, myself included cheered with joy.

It's not often we get to eat out somewhere, actually it's so rare I can't remember the last time we ate out as a family. From what I can remember, we always get kicked out for being too loud and "disturbing" the other guests. The only one of us who didn't cheer was Luna, she was just coming down the stairs when he told us.

"Hey Luna, Bobby is taking us to get a brunch or whatever! You coming?" Lana, my tomboy 6-year-old sister asked her.

"Nah sorry sis, I'm taking Sabrina her gift and then I'm going to spend the day with her." She replied holding a purple string backpack with, you guessed it, a skull right in the center of it.

"Aww, alright." Lana replied with a tinge of disappointment in her voice. Luna began to walk out, come to think of it, she's always been happy and held herself up high. But after she met Sabrina, every time she leaves the house her shoulders are higher, and she has the brightest most beautiful smile across her face. Their love for each other knows no bounds, every Sunday they always hang out and as of late they alternate between whose house to stay at. I still remember the first time she brought Sabrina home, she instantly became friends with all of us, and we didn't know it at the time that they would be more than that.

-Transition-

-Lori's POV-

-1 year ago-

"We've decided that we're now a couple!" The two girls in front of me shouted out nervously, holding hands with their eyes tightly closed, hoping that they wouldn't be disowned. My younger sister, Luna, just declared she was gay with her best friend Sabrina, and I let that sink in for a moment. My younger punk rocker sister just declared something out loud that most wouldn't have the courage to say, let alone to both her family but her girlfriend's family as well. I was at a loss for words.

As of late, I was the only one who was in a relationship out of my siblings, except for Lincoln and Ronnie Anne. I would have figured Leni, as clueless as she is, would have been the next to find a relationship. But Luna was sitting here holding hands with someone she loved, looking way too nervous for her own good. I glanced around at my family and saw some mixed looks. Leni was smiling, along with Luan, Lincoln, and Lynn, Lucy had the same blank face she normally has, Lola looked confused, Lana gawked at them in awe, Lisa adjusted her glasses while trying to hide her smile, and Lily was well being Lily. My parents looked at each other, smiled, grabbed each other's hand and looked back at the new couple.

I then looked at Sabrina's family which only was her mom and sister. Her mom, gave the biggest smile ever and her face lit up like a Christmas tree, while also shedding a tear. And her sister Liz, sat there, crossed her arms and muttered I knew it, all while smiling at her lap. Finally, I looked back at them and their tension was growing, their faces were growing redder by the second, anxiously waiting for someone to say something. Finally, I decided to stand up and fill that silent request.

"That is literally the most adorable thing like ever!" I gleefully shouted back at them, I was so happy that Luna found someone to make her happy. And out of all the people in the world, I'm glad it was Sabrina.

"Yeah, that is so awesome! You girls are too cute together!" Lynn chimed in taking me by surprise, I've never heard her use the word cute before. Then the shouting came, all similar to what Lynn and I said. They looked back at us with loving looks of relief, tears began to pour out of mostly everyone's eyes.

"You guys…don't care that we're gay?" Luna tentatively asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Like, none of us care! We love you both just the way you are!" Leni replied with genuine love and general excitement for her sister and her sister's new girlfriend's newfound love.

"Yes, it does not bother me in the slightest, in fact, it makes me quite thrilled, really." Lisa chimed in, smiling as tears sparkle in her eyes.

"I totally saw this coming!" Liz gloated running up to her sister and embracing her. Everyone had positivity, showing them there is nothing to be afraid of. That we'll love them no matter what, which is what makes us family.

-Transition-

-Lincoln's POV-

After she left, my family picked back up on the whole brunch thing. Again, my family was pretty excited about this because we haven't gone out to eat in god knows how long.

"So, are we going to get subs?" Lynn asked excitedly.

"Nope, we're going to a place called Penny's. The family diner I started working at about six or seven weeks ago." Bobby replied pulling the Penny's name tag out his pocket. "Yeah, they serve breakfast all day, along with lunch and dinner specials, I mainly wait tables, but sometimes they make me clean the bathrooms. And let me tell you something, cleaning a bathroom that just had somebody in it who had the Viking size breakfast platter does not smell pretty!"

"Bobby, stop that, you're grossing us out!" Lori retorted acting disgusted.

"Sorry babe, anyways hurry up and get ready! That means you too Mr. and Mrs. Loud!" He said with a proud grin. I looked over at Ronnie Anne who was sitting on the with a bored look plastered on her face. While my sisters rushed up to their rooms to get ready I walk over to my bored girlfriend and sit next to her.

"What's up Ronnie Anne, are you bored?" I asked her with extreme awkwardness.

"No Lame-o, well kinda. I'm ready to just go already, but something else is bugging me." She finished off by grabbing my hand, instantly raising some red flags for me, considering that was really odd of her to do.

"Ronnie Anne, what's wrong?" She looked up at me, seeming a bit uneasy.

"I have a really bad feeling about today. And before you ask, no it's not about your family eating all together in one restaurant. It's just before we left mom and dad looked worried and when Bobby and I came out they turned the TV off." I saw something in her eyes that I never thought she could feel, she was scared. "They looked at each other and silently nodded. Saying to be careful out there and if anything happens to come home immediately. Then my dad decided it would be best if my mom didn't go to work." After she finished my sisters came down the stairs ready to go, all dressed in their normal attire.

"You guys ready?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah!" They all shouted in unison. Then my parents came out dressed like they were ready for their dance classes.

"Alright, let's get in Vanzilla and get a move on!" My dad ordered. I went to stand up but Ronnie Anne had a vice grip on my hand.

"Come on, let's go." I argued trying to free my hand.

"Lincoln, I don't want to go." She argued back, fear taking over her normal carefree tone.

"Ronnie Anne, look I'm sure everything will be alright. We'll go and eat, then hit the arcade. It'll be an awesome day, just watch." I replied confidently freeing my hand, only to put it on her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Of course, now come on, everyone is waiting." I smiled at her helping her up.

"Alright, Lame-O lets go." She uneasily said standing up.

"Yo, you guys ready?" Bobby came in asking us.

"Yeah, let's go!" I said as I took Ronnie Anne out to Vanzilla, we all loaded up and headed off towards Pennys. The car ride there was a typical Loud ride, Luan and cracking puns, Lori thankfully didn't eat before this so she isn't throwing up. The twins are fighting, Lucy is telling Leni and Lynn their fortunes and Lisa is trying to shut her up. Although today traffic was unusually heavy, only in the opposite direction of the city. This only fueled Ronnie Anne's fears more, because as I was looking out the window I felt her grab onto my hand and squeeze it. The rest of the ride was easy going considering the occupants, once we reached Pennys we saw that there were only two cars plus ours. No one really thought anything of it either, except Ronnie Anne who wouldn't let go of me.

Once we got inside what we saw confirmed my suspicions, no one was here but the staff and us. We were seated at a few tables put together in the corner of the restaurant. The restaurant had a very family friendly atmosphere, wth low lighting and a smell of fresh pancakes. At the table they had laid out menus and brought us drinks, Lucy and Ronnie Anne sat next to me. While Ronnie Anne had let go of my hand she was still sitting extremely close to me. I looked around and I could see Bobby and Lori making googly eyes at us, thinking she's finally showing her "lovey dovey" side, when in reality I know she's scared of something. Other than them I saw Lynn shooting spitballs and Lisa, Luan cracking more bad puns, Leni trying to stop Lynn, Lana and Lola were discussing something about the menu, and Lily in a high chair between mom and dad. Lucy was making a pentagram out of straw wrappers when the waitress came to our table.

"How are we doing today? My name is Alex and I'll be your waitress. Are you guys ready to order?" Alex said with a forced smile.

"Uh yeah, I'll get th-" Lynn had tried to say before being cut off by the sounds of roaring engines and sirens. We all look out the window to see 6 or 7 cop cars drive by, a few SWAT vans and some helicopters zoom by towards the city.

"Whats going on?" Lori chimed. Everyone stayed silent, for a few moments before snapping back to reality.

"Yeah so anyway I'll tak-" Again before Lynn could finish, warning sirens began to blare, making my gut tighten and turn every which way. I looked at Ronnie Anne who took my hand with tears forming in her eyes.

"I told you something bad was going to happen." She whispered through tears. Cars began to drive by in the other direction from which the police were heading, some cars had crashed into poles or nearby buildings. Lynn and Luan stood up confused by what just happened.

"Alex, come on we gotta go!" We heard coming from the kitchen, a man dressed in a black shirt with Khaki pants and an apron came out from behind the counter. He ran over to us grabbed Alex by the hand, and they ran out to their cars, leaving us at the table.

"Mom, what's going on?" Leni asked holding her knees to her chest.

"I don't know honey, but we need to go!"

"What about Luna?" Luan asked, her normal funny and happy tone taken over by worry and fear.

"I hope she made it to Sabrina's before anything bad happened," Lori said what we were all thinking at that moment.

"Lincoln, I'm scared!" Ronnie Anne said grabbing onto me.

"Us too!" The twins said in unison, their voices laced with fear as they raced towards me. Lucy just grabbed onto my shirt, no one could see it, be she too was scared. I looked towards Lori and Bobby, who was comforting Leni while Lisa was doing her best to hide her fear. Luan was clinging onto our dad while our mom had Lily who looked confused. And finally Lynn sat there, fear obviously on her face, but she also looked ready. Pretty much-spitting fear in the face.

"Don't worry your big brother won't let anything happen to you," I reassured them hoping they couldn't see I was scared.

"Look, kids, I don't know what's going on, but we need to go and find your sister." Our dad ordered us.

"Let me try and call her!" Lori spoke up pulling her phone out, she dialed Luna's number and the wait was agonizing. After a few seconds of waiting, it just kept ringing, she had it on speaker. "Guys, she's not answering, that's not like her. She always answers for me."

"That just means we need to go now and find her." Dad resumed.

"Wait shouldn't we just stay here? It's safer than going out there isn't it?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"NO...no, we need to find Luna. Let's just hope she made it to Sabrina's." He snapped back at her.

"Hon, I know you're scared for her, so am I, but please don't snap at the kids." Mom told him.

"You're right dear, I'm sorry. It's just, the thought of her being out there possibly alone is terrifying. We don't even know what's going on." He said holding back tears.

"I know, I know, but we have to be strong, we'll find her, I can feel it. Call it a mother's intuition."

"Yeah dad, we'll find her," Lynn reassured him. She then walked over to him and embraced him, shedding a few tears herself. We don't know what's going on, and that terrifies us. We heard another crash and looked out a horrific sight. A truck had smashed into a van full of people. Flames erupted into the sky, the truck exploding immediately, 5 survivors burst out of the van, engulfed in fire. Trying to delay the inevitable they rolled around on the ground, but to no avail, the fire stayed and burned them to death.

We all just watched people die in front of us, 3 of them being children dying first, then the parents. Horrified, we stood there, paralyzed at we just saw. Lola was the first to break the silence by throwing up and crying hysterically. Lana followed suit, along with Bobby, Lori, and Luan. Our mom was holding onto Lisa, Leni, and Lily while dad was still embracing Lynn. Lucy looked up at me and for the first time, I saw pure, raw terror in her once hidden eyes. Ronnie Anne fell to her knees with a blank expression taking her face. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't over yet.

Across the street where the corpses lay, someone came stumbling out of a what looked like a tax office, they didn't look normal though. At first, they stopped and just looked around, until they saw the bodies. They moved towards them at a slow pace, still stumbling around, once they got closer I could tell it was a guy. He, looked weird though and I thought he was drunk, that was until he reached the bodies. He fell to his knees and through the fire started picking at the body of one of the children. What happens next forced me to fall to my knees, in a mix of shock, realization, and fear. He tore into her and began to rip her innards out, eating them even while on fire. It wasn't long before he succumbed to the flames and fell over. Then more of them came out of the same building all walking the same as him.

"Zombies...they're zombies!" I shouted shakily.

Ronnie Anne grabbed onto me and cried out. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" At her declaration, everyone began to cry hysterically Including Lisa and Lucy. Even though Lisa claims she rid herself of pointless human emotions, she's still a 4-year-old, and Lucy always going to the dark and talking to ghosts is still only an 8 year old.

"Mom, I don't want to die!"

"Oh my god, someone please help us!" My sisters blurted out either running to mom or dad. The lights began to flicker until they just quit outright. I just stood there, still trying to wrap my head around what's going on. Ronnie Anne had a death grip on my leg while Lucy had the same on my arm, crying into my chest. I finally came back to reality when I felt tugging at my other leg, I looked down to see Lola and Lana holding on to me, looking at me with eyes full of tears. This angered me more than anything.

The world just became a living hell and now my younger sisters have to live in it and suffer. My older sister Luna was out there, hopefully with her girlfriend. Luan had lost her happiness, Leni stopped talking. Lori clung onto Bobby trying to stop crying. Lynn completely lost her cool and broke down. Lisa held onto mom crying out to her and begging for this to be a bad dream. All of my sisters lost themselves because of these monsters, I'm going to make them pay! I grab onto Lucy and rub her hair along with Ronnie Annes. They both look up at me with curious looks.

"Don't worry, your big brothers going to keep you safe, I swear it on my life!" I reassured them. They let me go and I ran to the kitchen. I grabbed as many knives as I could and came back to them. I've played enough zombie games to know what to do.

"Lincoln Loud, what do you think you're doing?" My mom asked after seeing me with the sharp objects.

"We need to arm and defend ourselves." I started giving out knives to those who would take them. Everyone, but Leni, Lily, and Lola took one. "Alright, I know this is common sense with Zombies but we need to destroy the brain to kill them. If one gets close, stab its head as hard as you can and don't get bit." They all looked at me and for a split second, I could see a spark of hope. They all believed in me, for once. All of my younger sisters ran up to me and embraced me, my older ones looked on with the tears out of their eyes they came over and hugged me as well. Ronnie Anne looked at, and for the first time today, she smiled. "Now then, let's get to Vanzilla and find our sister!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kaisers New Hell

I sat there very bored, this so called "date" was going nowhere fast. This pitiful excuse for a woman was blabbing on about the mall or something, I really wasn't paying attention. We were at a Bob's Burpin' Burger, I know, a pretty shitty place for a date. But she was below average looking and really my parents forced me to take her somewhere. Unfortunately for her, I could care less and would rather be at home, reading in my room. Finally, I decided to end this disaster before she started on about something else insignificant.

"Look, I need to tell you something." I looked at her with a feigned longing look.

"Y-yes?" She replied hopeful that I was about to say what she wanted to hear.

"You're below average looking, boring and quite frankly, you sound like a bitch. I do not like you, I have never even remotely liked you, and I never will. I was forced to take you on this pointless, less than desirable outing when I could have been reading or playing video games." I tore into her watching the tears form in her eyes, mixed emotions began to fill her face. "You will never find love, so stop now and don't waste your time." I finished pretty weakly compared to what I usually say, I just really wanted to go home. I glanced outside and saw my father waiting for me in his work truck.

"So that's it?! Didn't you feel any connection at all? Just that I'm ugly?" She cried out drawing the attention of the rest of the restaurant.

"Other than the feeling that you wasted my time? No not at all," I say matter of factly. "Oh stop that crying, you're causing enough of a scene without our unwanted audience seeing your face become more disfigured with your tears." Again watching her heart break into a million pieces.

"Just leave if you don't like me then! I don't even care!"

"That was the plan, I even informed my father of it half an hour ago," I looked my at my watch, "and right on time, I must say. Oh, another thing before I go, a small tip if you'd call it that, 20 percent of why this was so horrid is because of you and your predictable, drab personality. Have a pleasant day ma'am."

Past the muffled sobs and onlookers choosing whether to comfort her or shout at me, I could only hear my own thoughts swirl about in my mind. My family's image and legacy are all that matter, not some insignificant girl who wants a little fling based on a hormonal imbalance at her "fragile" stage. I exited the building only to enter my father's truck.

"What did you say this time?" My father inquired, gazing out upon the scenery I had painted.

"Nothing," I replied, bored as I rested my chin on my palm. "I merely told her what she was worth." He shook his head with a weak chuckle as we drove off

"Alright, I can drop you off at the store, but I have to go run a few errands. You can walk home from there." He said looking around.

"Fine." The rest of the drive was pretty silent, I opened my phone and began to read memoirs from WWII. The only thing that actually peaks my interest nowadays, well that plus violent video games. Chat bubbles from a few different girls wanting to hang out, to my friend's group chat. I opened it to find tons of memes being spammed by my friend Justin, who happens to always spam pictures to the damn chat. After silently laughing at most of them, I look up to see the Super Duper Mart.

"Here, you go, see you later." My father said unlocking the doors.

"Yeah, see you later," I replied getting out. Right as the door closed he sped off, the opposite direction of home. I looked around and got my bearings, it seemed a lot more crowded today, in fact, the traffic out of the city was also a lot heavier than usual, and there was scarcely any traffic coming in. I walked up to the store and took one step inside to see lines going down the aisles and to many people crowding the entrance. I immediately walked out and headed for home. I put my earbuds in and began to listen to soothing violin music, drowning out the sound of the cars and excess noise. I crossed the intersection to the side heading towards the city, by this point maybe one or two cars were heading the same direction. I kept walking not seeing the 4 police cars speed towards the city. While I was waiting at the cross section, I see this van pass by full of a bunch of kids. If I'm not mistaken, it's the Louds. Everyone in Royal Woods knows about them, either from school or them running around the neighborhood, being unnecessarily loud, heh get it?

I finally made it home and saw that no one was home, not even our pets. With my family, I'm not surprised they usually go out and for some odd reason take our pets. We had 4 pit bulls, and a German shepherd, I like to call my pit bulls my kids. On the outside, I give off a stoic, unamused individual with no interest in the trends that people my age usually set. Inside? Mostly the same actually, only when it comes to my "kids" my heart opens only a little. The only people to have seen that side of me were my family and a few good friends I had back in Oklahoma, I and my family moved to Michigan because of my father finding a better job.

I unlocked my door and went straight to my room, and found everything as I left it. My books were neatly organized on a small brown shelf, next to them was a nightstand overshadowing my bed, which was neatly made with a red sheet set. My closet was organized with my shirts in front, jeans afterward, and finally my JROTC uniform. My boots, shoes and various footwear were lined up at the bottom. The walls had WWII posters depicting soldiers, tanks, and planes. Above my bed was two different posters, both of them had images of my favorite vehicles. The first being a German heavy tank, the Tiger I, the second being a German dive bomber, the Stuka. I walked over and laid on my bed, kicked off my shoes and pulled out my phone. Checking Facebook there were a lot of live videos of something going down in the city, I decided to watch one of them, but it cut out right as I tapped on it.

"Well then, so much for that." I tossed my phone across the bed and sighed, today's been one hell of a day so far. Hung out with a less than desirable female, then had to walk home and almost get run over twice. Seeing how I didn't eat anything on that outing. I got up and went towards my kitchen, once there I scoured around the pantry to find something to fill my stomach. I saw noodles, crackers, oatmeal, cake mixes, cookie mixes, so nothing really to eat there, I went to the fridge to be greeted by a similar sight. Veggies, lunch meat, leftovers, fruits, again nothing to eat.

"Why the hell don't we have anything to eat?" This is my curse, a kitchen full of food only to not find something to eat. Finally, I decided on heating up a frozen pizza. I went to put in the toaster oven when I heard the alert from my news app blare from my room. I decided to ignore it as it was probably another amber alert. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the idea of kidnapping or kids running away, but what the hell do they expect us to do? Suit up and scour the land searching far and wide to find little Johnny? Yeah, no I have better things to do. After about 5 minutes I get my pizza out, I grab a bottle of Coke and head towards my room. As I walk through the living room I can see flashing lights zoom past the house. And even the rotor sounds of a helicopter overhead. What the hell is going on? I glance at my phone as I enter my room to see my phone blown up with messages from certain acquaintances, my school, and the alert; Which wasn't about a missing kid, but something far worse. I go to check the messages, which are all on the lines of, "Are you okay", or "Do you know what's going on" I open my phone and go straight to the news alert to see a horrifying scene. The city was full of mass panic and chaos. Police and SWAT lining the streets and buildings, take shots at people stumbling towards them. After a few minutes of watching this, I could see the National Guard rolling into the city only to swarmed by a mob of people, so much for fire support. As I kept watching enthralled by the chaos, I didn't notice the sirens beginning to blare.

"What the fuck?!" I begin to gaze around my room, my pizza is cold and the coke is untouched. On my phone I go to the contacts to try and call my parents, only to find that the signal has been disconnected. "No phone service, no way to reach my parents...great." I put my phone down and go out to my living room to check the news on the TV. I turn it on to be greeted by the loud commotion, and chaos.

"We are here downtown Royal Woods and what seems to be happening is, well quite frankly Zombies. We have no idea how it got this bad as quickly as it did, but the streets are filling with zombies. At the time we currently don't have much information on them-, OH GOD, WATCH OUT!"

Gunshots were then heard followed by the camera falling and screaming. The news reported took off away from the where the cameraman was only to be hit by a car. As she flew out of the picture the camera was violently shaken causing a crack to form over the picture. Legs stumbled past towards what I'm assuming was where the news reported landed. Then the picture cuts out completely. I sat there in awe, "This is actually happening, zombies." I said out loud my face full of mixed emotions, fear, and grief. Finally, gives me a reason to take my guns out in public and use them.

I go to my footlocker back in my room to retrieve my...where the hell is my weapons?! I had quite a few weapons in here, granted they were WWII rifles but still. A weapon is a weapon. After scouring the room and not finding them, I decided to try my father's room. He has to have something in there. Why the hell would my guns be missing, whenever I find out who took them, I'm going to raise some hell. I went out into the hall and started towards his room but stopped dead in my tracks by the sound of glass shattering. I slowly turn around and peek into my room, fearful of what I might see, to find the window above the bookshelf broken and someone crawling through. The figure stood up and showed what they really were, a fucking zombie. I felt my heart skip a beat, trying to move my feet wouldn't respond. What the hell? Me, scared? I'm supposed to be the strong one, the one who isn't afraid of anything. As I stood there frozen watching the zombie come closer I could see the better detail. What looked like a relatively fresh bite mark rested on his neck. Long bloody claw marks covered his arms and chest, and one if feet looked as if it was crushed. His face was unknown to me, probably a neighbor. But his eyes were bloodshot and the pupil filled his entire eye. Blood seeped from his nose and ears, and his mouth was missing a few teeth.

Guess they don't get dental service in hell. The worst of it was this low raspy growl he let loose. Opening his mouth ready to tear me open and devour me. I don't want to die. No, not yet. I still couldn't move however, he was but a few inches away when the thought that stirred my body came to me. The thought of my friends back in Oklahoma laughing at me for being a weakling getting scared at something like this. Definitely not my proudest moment. Finally, my body responded to me, I put my hand up to his head avoiding the mouth that would surely mean my end. I pushed him back to the best of my abilities, to then 'spartan' kick him in the chest, knocking him on ass back into my room. I quickly ran to my father's room to find the gun safe closed and locked as it should be. I put in the combination, after spying on my father put it in so many times I have it burned into my memories. I open it to find one gun and one box of ammo. I wonder if he knew what was going on and just left it for me. No, because if he did he would have taken me with him. So why is there only one in here then? The sound of the zombie trying to get up brought me back to reality. Right worry about that later.

The gun in the safe was a PLR, a modified AR 15. It has a shortened barrel, no stock, a thirty round mag, a red dot sight and an assist on the bolt instead of a charging handle. I took that and grabbed the box of ammo which only had 20 rounds in it. "Shit," I went over and leaned against the wall right next to his nightstand. I began loading the rounds watching the doorway waiting for the undead fucker to come through. About five rounds in he came crawling into the doorway. His mouth agape growling at me, clawing his way towards me. Instead of wasting a round on him, I grabbed the lamp off of the nightstand right next to me, went over and attempted to bash his head in. It would've worked had he not grabbed my right ankle, forcing me to start attacking his hand. I began to bash the lamp onto the undead limb, but even with all of my might, he wouldn't let go. He started pulling himself towards my foot, inching ever closer it was then I realized that I didn't have my shoes on.

"Shit!" Finally, as his mouth was in reach of my foot I took the lamp and forced it down onto his head, and to my surprise, nothing happened. "FUCK!" I became frantic and began to pound his head harder and harder until I felt a sharp pain erupt through my foot. This is the end before I even left my house, I died, pathetic.

Then I realized how stupid I was and saw that the zombie had already died and the pain in my foot was the lamp breaking three of my toes. After taking a breather and getting over seeing blood and brains all over the floor I got up and hobbled into my bathroom. I had to patch my foot up somehow. I pulled out the medical kit from under the sink and opened it up to find one popsicle stick and a small ass roll of bandages. Really? This is all I have to work with? I thought to myself. I broke the stick into three pieces, put each piece under the broken toes and did my best to wrap each one tightly. I discarded the box seeing as that's all it was at that point, and stood up, which was a very bad mistake. More pain shot through my foot and up to my knee. After letting out a quiet yelp I reached into the mirror above the sink and took all three bottles of aspirin. Downing 5 right then and there, I stored them into my pockets. Then a new thought dawned on me, what footwear am I going to wear. I limped into my room to decide, doing my best to avoid the broken glass, I sat onto my bed and gazed into my closet. The only thing that would probably fit around my toes would be my boots. So I grabbed them and attempted to put them on. The left went on fine, but the right was a bitch, this is where I screamed out in pain. And after an agonizing ten minutes I finally got the boot on, the pain ever so present, unfortunately. I'm very glad that I'm the only one in the house, the embarrassment of me crying out would be worse than the pain.

I went back into my father's room to grab the PLR and finish loading it. After which I made it to my kitchen, secured some water and pop tarts, "This is what I'm reduced to, not even a full day and my toes are broken, along with my pride, and I'm going to survive off of pop tarts. Wonderful." I looked back into my house one last time before going out the back door to embrace this hell on earth. Before I could get my whole body out of the house, I was greeted by five zombies… "Son of a bitch!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Act II

It's been four years since Luna, my sister and I ran from our house, four long years of hell. In that time Luna and I have only strengthened our relationship, plus killing a fuckton of zombies along the way. About a fourth of the way through the first year, we ran out of ammo and decided it be best to carry one firearm and then a modified melee weapon. A bit more practical, don't you think? And after four years of constant scavenging and looting, ammo has been hard to come by. So as much as I didn't want to, I had to ditch my shotgun, and we hoarded as much ammo as we could. Which wasn't a lot, about 30 rounds for each of us. Now I carry my Glock, and a wooden bat filled with bent nails so as they won't stick to the bones, that would be bad.

A week after everything started we went back to Luna's house in hopes of finding her family, unfortunately, no one was there, on the other hand, the house was still relatively untouched. We went in and grabbed a few things to help us remember them, and give to them once we find them. We grabbed Bunbun for Lincoln, one of Lisa's favorite books, Lily's stuffed bear, Lola's tiaras, Lana's toolkit, Lucy's book of poems, Lynn's lucky jock. Although we put that in a ziplock bag for...safekeeping. Lori's favorite shirt from Bobby, Leni's puzzle, Mr. Coconuts for Luan, and then Luna's axe. She didn't want to travel the apocalypse without it. For her parents, we grabbed a few of her father's ties and a picture her and siblings drew for their mom. We just hope that when we find them, all of them will still be alive.

Nowadays she's sporting a literal axe with a crude skull painted on each side, and a Beretta; whereas my sister has probably one of the more lame weapons, which would be a simple tire iron, and then for her sidearm, she uses a SIG-Sauer M11. Finding the ammo for their weapons wasn't too hard either. In the four years we've been traveling we're not sure where we've ended up. Whether we're still in Michigan or not is unknown, all we know is it's cold.

"Hey, sis, we haven't seen too many zombies lately have we?" Liz asked me, snuggling closer to me and Luna, who was currently sleeping against me. We were in a small convenience store, the back room to be more precise. Not the safest, but its shelter.

"No, not really, which worries me." Whenever there is a lack of zombies in a certain area, it can mean one of two things. It could be someone came through recently and killed most of them, or they're moving in a horde. And it's most likely the latter. "I'm sure we'll be fine, someone's already probably killed them all. Go ahead and try to sleep."

"But you were on watch yesterday and the night before, when was the last time you slept?" She asked with a worried tone. She was right though, I always take watch, It's not that I don't trust these two, I feel better if I was watching them. If I died, then that'd be fine by me, but I could never live with myself if one of them died.

"I'll be fine, just get some sleep," I said pulling Luna just a little closer.

"No, I'll be on watch tonight, you need sleep, besides I think Luna wants you to sleep as well." She looked at me with a sympathetic smile.

"Liz, don't try and argue with me, I don-"

"Sabrina, get some sleep, you need it." Every time she spoke her words became more true.

"But." I tried to fight back.

"But nothing, how can you expect to protect us when you're half asleep. I know how you think Sabrina, being the older sister and all." At this point, I was either too tired to fight or I realized she was true.

"Fine, but if something happens, then you need to wake me up. And for god's...sake use my bat to help watch instead of that tire iron." Trying to order her was harder than I thought.

"Hey this is made of metal, your bat is wood, I think I'll be fine. Now go to sleep dammit!" She said with a stern look, not taking her gaze off of me. Accepting my fate I pulled Luna in as gentle as possible and laid my head on top of hers. As I closed my eyes, I felt my sister lay her hand on my shoulder, quietly reassuring me everything was going to be okay. Feeling the embrace of slumber I whispered "I love you," Towards Luna also hoping my sister would hear. Just then Evee, our pit bull snuggled up close to Luna and me, making me feel even more loved. Maybe some sleep would do me good…

"Wake up love!" I woke up to the sound Luna's voice, only it was filled with a tinge of fear and excitement. "We need to get moving now!" I look around and I see Liz bashing a zombie's head in while Luna tries to get me up.

"W-whats going on?" I groggily asked still trying to wake up.

"Zombie dude, we need to go!" Luna yelled in a frantic tone. The fact that we were surrounded by zombies didn't actually set in, I brushed it off seeing as I was too tired to really think. I tried to close my eyes, and right as they did to let me get some more wonderful sleep, I felt a slap straight across my face. I woke the back up to see it was Luna forcing me to stay awake. "You can punish me later love, but we gotta go!" She said with a wink and a smirk.

"Yes ma'am," I smiled back finally realizing the severity of the situation we were in. "Wait, how did this happen, last night there was barely any!"

"You-" Liz tried to say before having to kill more undead bastards.

"You slept for two days straight, we tried to wake you last night when more of them started coming in, but you wouldn't budge," Luna informed me while handing me my weapons.

"Evee! Watch Luna's back!" Liz shouted out kicking a zombie away. Even I didn't notice the zombie coming up behind Luna. They had moved me out into a corner of the store, so while it was easier for them to defend themselves it was also easier for the zombies to get in and get behind us. Evee jumped over Luna and straight onto the zombies head. She knew not to go near the mouth seeing as it would be her end. Within only a few moments the zombies head was crushed under the bite force of Evees mouth. Both fell to the floor only for Evee to bounce off and take a defensive stance.

"Come on love, help us," Luna asked, staring at me with her beautiful eyes intently.

"Y-Yeah, let's go!" I stood up with my bat in hand, looking back into Luna's eyes forgetting about the world.

"HEY! Lovebirds? Cut that shit out until we're away from undead freaks, I can't take them all alone you know?" Liz shouted to us snapping us back to reality.

"Right! Sorry!" Luna and I responded in unison, the windows at the front of the store shattered apart as more zombies decided to say hi. "Luna stay back there with Evee!" I shouted as I rushed towards Liz. The first zombie to meet my bat looked like she a was middle-aged soccer mom who wanted to see your manager. Until my bat made her head look like a soggy cake that's been sitting out too long. We fought off the zombies for who knows how long, I tend to lose track of time when I'm on a killing spree. The last zombie fell to the jaws of Evee, about 20ish zombies laid around us. Only a few ever reaching Luna.

"Alright, girls let's pack up and go," I commanded, stepping over a few zombies back to Luna.

"Where are we going now? North? Or more West?" Liz asked throwing her backpack on.

"I say we head North, throw off the zombies for a bit. Also, you two are going to need to change again." Luna spoke out, her words rang true. Since we left four years ago, we went through many different sets of clothes, either because we grew out of them, or they got torn and bloody. Today's case? Torn all along our backs and sleeves, at this point we're used to it, and finding rags to wear isn't hard either. Luna, on the other hand, her clothes were still in "perfect" condition. And Evee? We have a chain collar around her neck, goggles on her eyes and makeshift clothing and shoes for her.

"Agreed, we'll head North and hopefully run into something," I spoke with hope in my voice.

"Kay, I'm ready, just waiting for you two now!" Liz chimed in, "Evee, to me!" Evee ran over to Liz wagging her tail in excitement, no matter what that beautiful pup is always happy, she actually inspires us to stay positive no matter what.

"Yeah, yeah give me a minute!" Luna spoke out still getting her backpack on.

-Transition-

One Hour Later

It's been about an hour since we left that small store by the roadside, following the highway doing our best to stay away from the zombies. In between there and now we "appropriated" new clothes from some dead bodies.

"Ugh, we've been walking for hours…" Liz complained. "My feet hurt!"

"Jeez, Liz you sound just like Leni and Lori!" Luna teased.

"Hey, that was mean."

"It's true sis, you do sound very similar," I said defending Luna.

"I do not!" She pouted in response, even in hell you can still tell the little kid in her.

"Hey, dudettes, I see a sign up ahead!" Luna said bringing our attention forward, pointing towards it. As we got closer we saw what the sign told us, although we could barely tell through the blood.

"Saugatuck, 1 mile," I mumbled out. "Well, at least we're still in Michigan."

"Yeah, I say we pick up the pace though, it'll be dusk soon."

"Already? I thought I only woke up not too long ago."

"You're not wrong, but it was pretty late in the day when you did," Luna informed me. I guess I never paid much attention to the position of the sun.

"Well shit, alright girls, let's hoof it." We burst out into a light jog, by the color of the sky we had about two hours left before night. You never wanna be out in the open at night, especially on a highway. When working on your cardio during the apocalypse, you have to make sure and kill any zombies, so that they won't follow you. Worryingly there weren't that many zombies along the way.

"Hey, sis...you think...this upcoming...town...is...safe?" Liz managed to huff out through her heavy breathing.

"Hopefully...be on your...guard though." My stamina is a lot better than hers but, Luna beats us both. With her being a singer, her lung capacity is amazing.

"Yeah, as much as I would like to hope, you can't be too careful," Luna said with more ease than either Liz or I could ever hope to have. The rest of the jog was relatively quiet, a few zombies here and there. We were finally coming to the town. What we could see is that it was a lakeside town. So only one way for zombies to come in. For some blessed reason zombies don't go near water, which means staying on the water would be the logical choice, right? Wrong! Most of the floating camps are home to thugs and thieves, they started out as easy going communities, but most were taken over by groups wanting to rape and pillage. Thankfully for us, we didn't see any out there, although like Luna said you can never be more careful. As we entered the town we noticed a lot of the buildings were boarded up, with painted words saying "Stay away" or "Dead inside."

"A warm welcome if I've ever seen one." Liz chimed in.

"Let's just find a building and hunker down," I suggested.

"Yeah, somewhere has to be open." Luna piped up. Evee began to growl as we passed the buildings with "Dead inside."

"Evee, shh," Liz ordered. Evee obeyed and followed alongside Liz on her exposed side. After only a few minutes of searching through the empty, eerie streets we found a building that wasn't closed off, a brewery.

'Saugatu-brewing- comp.' Some of the title was missing but we got the gist of it.

"Well, girls who wants to get drunk tonight?" I jokingly said.

"You know we're all underage right?" Liz spoke up.

"Rules don't matter anymore dudette."

"I was joking girls, besides I doubt there's any left." Before we could continue Evee went on high alert, pointing towards the direction we came from. "Quick, get inside!" We went around back and we in there. Just in case there were already people inside. We checked each room and found it completely void of the living and undead.

"Hell yeah, whole place to ourselves!" Luna spoke up.

"We, can celebrate later, let's set up some barricades. We took whatever we could find to brace the doors, tables, and chairs. This place seemed almost untouched like no one has been in this building since this all started. With the doors barricaded and the windows braced we finally settled down in the kitchen. With no power, the "fresh" food had spoiled a very long time ago. The canned food, however, was still good, along with some boxes of crackers.

"I think we could stay here a while. We have enough food to last us for...hmm I'd say three or four weeks. What do you guys think?" I asked looking around the pantry.

"Yeah, we could stay here, wouldn't bother me," Luna said, sitting down pulling something out of her bag.

"Same!" Liz agreed. After doing a bit more of searching I found a six pack.

"Blueberry maple-..." I found a six pack labeled Blueberry maple stout. "Oh, girls!" I called out to them.

"Yeah sis?"

"Look what I found!" I put the six pack down in front of them.

"Is that...alcohol?" Liz asked. In all the years we've been traveling, we've never actually had alcohol.

"I think so, yeah."

"Should we drink it?"

"It'd be a waste if we didn't." Whenever mom would have friends over they would drink, and of course, us being underage meant we never got any. But our mom always told us that when we get to that age, if we were interested, to drink in moderation.

I looked over to Luna and saw her staring intently at Bun-bun, and I could see tears dropping falling onto Bun-bun. I went over and embraced her.

"Let it out babe, it's okay." Both Liz and I knew what was going on. She missed her family, and why wouldn't she. She hasn't seen them for four years, and we don't even know if they're alive. One thing that can take her mind off of that thought is letting her talk about them. We've heard the same story hundreds of times over the past few years but we don't mind. After letting her cry her heart out into my chest she finally pulled away and wiped her face.

"Thanks love. This is one of the reasons I love you, you know that right?" She managed to choke out, still crying a few tears.

"Yeah, I love you too." I placed my hands on the back her head and pulled her in for a kiss. Ruffling her hair while doing so. What? You think I wouldn't? After we left each other's embrace I still kept a hold of her hand. "You wanna talk about them?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." She said putting a smile on her face through her blush.

"So, tell us how you think they're getting through this," I asked looking over a Liz who was feeding Evee with a can of meat.

"Well...I think Lincoln would have taken charge, or at least inspired them. Little Linc has always been able to do that. He's also probably the one keeping them together." She said, with the tears completely stopped by now. "Lola and Lana are probably arguing as we speak, Lily's four by now, I wonder how she's grown. Lisa's found a cure for this thing I bet, Lucy's probably embracing this thing, Lynn's most likely the heavy hitter, and Lincs right-hand woman. Luan's keeping the mood happy with her lame jokes," She said that with a deadpanned look. "Lory and Leni are probably helping mom and dad keep everyone in check."

"What about Bobby and Ronnie Anne?" I asked. Holding her hand tighter. Only to see a small smile come from that.

"Well, Bobby and Lori probably keep talking about their futures. And Ronnie Anne and Little Linc are most likely together. Being the second cutest couple."

"Whos the first?" I asked feigning innocence.

"Us you dork." She said as she booped my nose. Which causes me to giggle like a little girl. She is quite possibly the cutest person I've ever met. And I'm lucky to have her in my life. She's always been there to make me happy, no matter what. Clearly, the toxic thoughts of her family have left her mind, because she laughed and kissed me on the cheek, which only made me giggle even more. We looked over at Liz who was now sleeping with Evee cuddled up in her lap doing the same.

"Guess we should get some sleep too," I said pulling my bag over. I pulled out a blanket big enough to cover both me and Luna.

"Yeah, that would be nice." She smiled back pulling hers over to use as a pillow. After situating our clothes to be more comfortable we laid down and pulled the blanket over us. I cuddle up right behind her and wrapped my arm around her. One night without a watch would be fine, seeing as we're in a secure building.

"Goodnight Luna, I love you," I whispered closing my eyes pulling her towards me until I could hear her heartbeat.

"Goodnight Sabrina, I love you too!" She whispered back grabbing onto my hand, only fueling the strength of my embrace. I try to take advantage of these moments as much as I could. Enjoying the simple, yet meaningful embraces we share. And tonight would be one of those nights, a night where I can fall asleep to the beat of her heart. I love you Luna Loud.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The sun showed through the curtains of my room waking me from another night of night of restless slumber. I "awoke" and looked at the clock that's been dead for some time now. The hands were stuck on "6:06," if only one more 6 had snuck its way in there it would be accurate. It's been four long years since this shit started. The names Lincoln and I'm a 15-year-old kid stuck in hell. I look over to my side and see my girlfriend Ronnie Anne still sleeping, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can't sleep anymore. Every night I hear the zombies from beyond the gate, and I can still hear the last words from my sister Luna, "Nah sorry sis, I'm taking Sabrina her gift and then I'm going to spend the day with her." And I can still remember how disappointed Lana was. We all hoped she was still alive, but after all this time the hope is dying. At least for me, if she's dead, I hope she died with Sabrina, that way she wouldn't be lonely. As I was caught up in my thoughts I didn't feel Ronnie Anne stir next to me.

"Good morning," she said groggily, slipping her hand through mine. Now I know what you're thinking; 'Well that isn't like Ronnie Anne', but let me tell you, after years of me showing her affection and constant support in the apocalypse, she finally opened up to me a bit.

"Morning," I replied, smiling slightly as I gently hold her hand, "Sleep well?"

"As well as you can," she brushes the hair out of her face as she sits up, "You?"

I frown, "You already know the answer to that," my gaze hits the floor as I'm flooded with emotion.

"Hey, Lame-o," she pulls her hand away from mine, then pulling my face up to hers, "We'll find her, I promise!" she exclaimed, giving me a kiss on the cheek and smiling at me.

We ended up being interrupted by a baby's cry. Yeah, I said baby, and nope, it's not our parents. It's actually Lori's and Bobby's 3-month-old daughter, and moreover, my niece, Lilith.

"Bobby! Your turn to change Lilith!" Lori shouted through the hallway.

"Guess we'd better get dressed and face today huh?" I asked.

"As much as I don't want to, yeah," she agreed sullenly.

We both got dressed, walking into the hallway, four years ago, this would have been the day where we would just be carelessly running around doing our usual activities. Now it serves as a reminder of what it used to be.

"Guys, Time to wake up," I shouted down the hall, clearing my mind of said thoughts.

"I have been up for quite some time now brother!" Lisa shouted at me from her room.

"Yeah us too!" Both Lola and Lana shouted in unison.

"Hey, Linc, Luce and I are downstairs!" Lynn shouted at me.

"Good morning Linky!" Leni said from behind the bathroom door.

"I'm already awake!" Luan said poking her head out of her room. She's slowed down on the puns lately, thank God.

"Big brother!" I heard a small voice cry out as Lily ran up the stairs and into my arms.

"Good morning big brother!" She said as gave me a bear hug.

"Good morning to you too little one!" I responded, smiling and returning the hug. Lily grew up strong and into a loving, caring sister. She really loved drawing and thankfully peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches. As she continued to try and squeeze my stuffing out I saw Maggie walk out of Luan's room, her hair a mess and looking like a zombie herself. We found her on the way back to our house. That's right, we're still living in our house if you haven't guessed. We came back in hope of finding Luna, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Leaving the diner was no easy feat, by the time we left which was a few days after, zombies littered the streets. It was a miracle we all made it back. Once we got back though Clyde and his dad's made it over to us, along with another family which was known for having way too many guns. And with all of us working together we managed to put up a wall and make it a safe haven. The first year 20 people lived here, the second 40, the third 100, which is when we had to expand and make the wall bigger, and now? Almost 200 people living here, with my parents and the father of the gun toting family in charge this place has come along nicely.

Sorry, got off track there, when we found Maggie she was covered in blood and sitting on a curb with a bloodied piece of wood in her hand. At first, no one recognized her, but as we got closer I could barely remember who she was. I had told my family to stay back, while I took the lead and advanced towards her. As I got closer she looked at me, I stopped dead in my tracks with my weapon raised. I looked her dead in the eyes waiting for her to try something, but all I saw was sadness and despair. She recognized me as "that little mime boy" that was at her birthday party. She didn't say anything but tears dripped down her face. Turns out she had to kill her mom and best friend after they turned. We took her with us and at first, she and Luan didn't really get along, they would argue and fight a lot. However, after a year of watching each other backs, they became good friends, and a year after that a couple. A cute one at that I should add.

"Kids, come on down! Breakfast is ready!" Our dad called out to us, even in the apocalypse he still cooks like a pro. You'd think getting food would be difficult, but Mr. Grouse' gardening skills saved us.

We now have a massive garden and even a few chickens. We currently have a team out trying to secure some cattle, but they've been gone for a while now.

"Coming!" All of us said in unison, charging down towards the kitchen. All except Lori and Bobby who were dealing with their child. We burst into the dining room to see a simple breakfast laid out for us on the table. Eggs, baked Roma tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers. Not the most filling, but we'll take what we can get.

"I know it's not a lot kids but there you go!" Dad said taking his apron off. We all sat down, this time with Lori and Bobby joining us. Mom came out and sat next to dad, and we all dug in, chowing down the food.

"So, kids, what's the agenda for today?" Our mom asked, wiping her face of egg yolk.

"I'll continue work on the satellite if all goes well we'll be able to contact the outside with it," Lisa stated.

"I'll teach the newbies on how to swing a bat, again. They can never seem to learn right." Lynn groaned.

"Well me, Lola and Lily are going to finish up the new clothing idea, I think," Leni said scratching her head.

"I'm going to finish building the coffins." Lucy creepily said.

"I get to finish working on Vanzilla today! She'll finally be able to run zombies down without breaking!" After we left the diner and settled down back here, we souped Vanzilla up to be able to take zombies down, the only problem is its Vanzilla. Broke down more times than we could count.

"Maggie and I'll go around and make sure everyone's happy, right?" Luan said cheerfully.

"Yeah, sure," Maggie replied sourly.

"And I'll take care of Lilith today!" Lori stated excitedly.

"Sounds good girls, Lincoln what about you?" I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do today. The entire night I only thought about Luna and just how fucked up this world is.

"I guess, I'll check on the newcomers, and see if we have any guests," I said blandly.

"Don't worry, I'll go with him to make sure nothing bad happens." Ronnie Anne said punching my arm.

"Alright then, get to it kids be back in a few hours for lunch." Our parents said almost on sync.

"What about you two?" Bobby asked our parents.

"We're going to check on our food and water storage. We may have to do another raid soon." Our parents said standing up. While the food was easy to come by since we had a garden, it was usually never a problem. Water, however, was different, we are working on getting a well going, but until then, we'd have to raid nearby towns and what not. We never stole water though, unless it was from a band of thugs, but at that point, we called it "liberating." But after four years the surrounding areas were almost bare, a small town not too far from us had a tower but that was surrounded by zombies.

I left my house with Ronnie Anne in hand pondering the water situation, only to look up to see Clyde, my best friend since like ever. We've been through everything together. From our first day of middle school to the end times, he's always had my back. No matter what.

"Hey buddy, I see you didn't sleep well." He said adjusting his glasses. "Judging by the bags under your eyes I'd say you haven't slept in days."

"No, I haven't, I keep thinking about Luna," I responded rubbing my bloodshot eyes.

"I can understand that. But you do need some sleep, I have some sleeping pills back at my place if you need them?"

"Nah, if I ever get that desperate I'll just have Ronnie Anne knock me out." I received a swift punch to the arm for that. "Ouch, anyway, what brings you out here? I know it wasn't just to talk about my lack of sleep."

"Oh well we've got some new people and a guest I think you and your family would be interested in. My dads greeted him at the gate and they have in the holding area." He said with a big grin on his face. Now I know what you're thinking, holding area, really? We call it that for a very simple reason, it's where we hold the guests until they're dealt with, either passively or non-passively. We divide people coming to our stronghold, which we call Purgatory, into two different categories. The first being guests, they are the people who want to trade, offer their services, or try and trick us into letting them in so that they can steal. The others are classified as PP or potential population. They are the ones who come to us and want safe haven. They are placed in the reception area. We let the young, weak, and elderly in. The others need to prove their usefulness, or else they're just another mouth to feed with no redeeming qualities.

"Then let's go meet the new PP's," I said as we went towards the reception area.

On our way there we passed many different people, some from Royal Woods, others from around Michigan. We send out small courier parties to spread the word that we're here, and we can help. Of course, that message gets to the wrong people sometimes, but they're dealt with accordingly. One couple we passed was my old teacher, Ms. Johnson, now Mrs. Pacowski and her new husband coach Pacowski. They got married a month ago, they both hold similar jobs as they did before, only now they're with us; Mrs. Pacowski teaches survival skills and Coach still does the usual PE routine, only he adds in weapons training afterwards; Turns out that he was a damn good shot too, Not to mention he went hunting regularly.

They were out playing with their adopted kids, I say God because we get a lot of foster children coming in. At one time we had one father/ daughter duo come through, but they only stayed one night. I think the dad's name was Joel, but I'm not too sure. I don't know, but they kept going on about some mushroom in Alaska or whatever. I swear, we get the weirdest people around here.

We reached the reception area which was a shipping container with windows at the top. We took a step in and saw only three PP's, a guy who looked to be in his mid 20's and then an elderly couple, who looked to be at least 80.

"Alright, let's get started. You first." I said pointing to the 20 yo. "Name and skills."

"Who the fuck are you talk to me like that, you're just some stupid kid." He said standing up becoming very aggressive. Upon closer inspection, he stood as tall as my father, had a grisly beard and short choppy hair. He seemed decently built, other than that he had no noticeable features. I stood there unimpressed, we've gotten way too many people like that lately.

"Name, and skills?" I asked again with more force in my voice.

"I ain't talking to you, get me an adult to talk to!" He said not budging, I'll deal with him later.

"Okay, I'll get someone for you. Now then," I look at the elderly couple. "How about you guys? Names please."

"I'm John, and this is my wife Sherly. I apologize for any inconvenience but she's mute." The older man spoke, he had sun spots covering his bald, shiny head and an enlarged nose. His wife had short gray hair, she was That's old thing. Her eyes though, they told a thousand stories.

"No worry at all, how long have you been out there?" Clyde stepped in.

"Four months, we managed to get away from the last place we were in. It got attacked by a horde of zombies." The elderly man said.

"Four months?! Wow, that's incredible, I'm sorry that happened, we'd be more than happy to take you in!" He said with a big smile painting his face.

"Really? No more questions?" John asked widening his eyes.

"Of course not, Go ahead and get registered!" Clyde escorted them to the registrar while the angry man sat there. After only a few minutes the couple became registered and moved through. Once they made it out of the reception area, I snapped my fingers and the guards left as well to be posted outside. The man looked at me with angered confusion, before getting up and walking towards me.

"What-" Before he could continue I cut him off. Pushing my palm into his chest knocking him on his ass, I stood above him. Over the years Lynn has taught me how to fight both the living and the undead.

"Listen here bitch, I personally don't give a fuck about who comes in here, especially people like you." Without stuttering, I stated those words with force and power. They were mostly false though. I love being able to help people, and bringing more in makes me happy knowing we've done something. But I hate it when people like him come in and try to act tough. "We can do this one of two ways, you leave and move on, or you make it out of here alive, by the snap of fingers the guards will come and murder you. They have no problem doing so. So, what'll be?" It's true, our guards have no problem killing those who are a threat. He looked at me with a hint of fear before speaking.

"Hmph letting me leave is a big mistake. You'll regret this kid!" He said while getting up and brushing himself off.

"I'll give you till the count of 5, 1-" He didn't take any chances, he quickly departed out through the exit.

After he left I sighed and unclenched my fists. I've really never been one for threatening people, I hate being the asshole. Buts it's needed, you'd figure Ronnie Anne would have done something like that right? Yes and no, when I'm not around she does so with ease, but when I am? She lets me take control, so I can get used to it she says. "Alright guys," I let my thoughts turn to other matters at hand, "let's go meet the, in the holding area."

Our entrance area is comprised of the main gate, which then splits into two separate shipping containers, which is where we house the newcomers. The holding area is directly across from the reception area, meaning the walk was a short one.

Upon our entrance I notice a particularly menacing character leaning against the wall, almost casually flipping a combat knife around. He's dressed in black combat boots, a black jacket, black pants, a black helmet, and a black gas mask, with a patch, consisting of an orange biohazard symbol on top of a white circle centered on a gray armband resting on the arm. The light reflecting off of his mask almost makes it seem like the goggles he has on look orange, while his belt, however, with an old-world looking pistol, the holster for his knife and what looks to be a combat shovel on his back.

"Welcome to Purgatory, what do you want?" I asked trying to contain my slight fear, hopefully, my face didn't show it. I could feel Ronnie Anne hold my hand tighter and Clyde stepped behind me, we've all seen "people of the apocalypse," people who embrace this hell and offer their services. This guy, however, he had a presence that even set the guards on edge.

"From what I can tell, you're the leader of this...operation here, correct?" He asked with, voice.

"Yeah, I am. Now then answer my question." I weakly ordered I could feel myself begin to shake.

"Stop your trembling, I'm not a threat, not until you make me one." He assumingly stared on at me. "I'll tell you who I am after I explain myself. I'm obviously a merc if you couldn't tell. I came here wondering if anyone needed my services, I've waited long enough, so do not make me regret coming here."

"What kind of work do you do, can you gather supplies for us?" I asked forcing as much fear out as I could, I felt the sweat roll down my face. He said he wasn't a threat unless we made him one? How bad was this guy? I couldn't get a read on him.

"A mercs job isn't to "gather" supplies, that's a complete waste of talent," he said with a cold tone. "That boy behind you can gather supplies just fine, along with the girl on your arm. No, my services are that of finding assets."

"What do you mean assets?" I asked. "Like, parts and stuff?"

"Again waste of talent, all three of you could do that." He responded yet again, growing tired of him beating around bush my fear turned to irritation.

"Just tell us who you are and what you do!" I shouted at the mysterious figure, growing fearful.

"I'm called Harbinger, and I'm a merc. My talents lie in finding people and bringing them home."


	6. Chapter 6

**hapter 6**

This white haired boy stood before me with a Hispanic girl on his left hand, and an African American boy cowering behind him. Honestly not the youngest of meetings I've had, then again most of those weren't kids leading an encampment such as this. However, even as young as he is, his bearing was impressive. He was standing his ground the entire time, even while trembling like a baby. When I told him that I find people all three of their faces lit up, but the leader's face was the brightest. And a big grin formed, and I could swear his eyes were sparkling. After an awkward staring contest he ran over to a phone sitting on the small wooden desk where an older woman sat, the only one who didn't seem phased by my presence.

"I call an immediate Loud family meeting, a Loud family meeting at the holding area. NOW!" The boy said looking more excited than one should be. Were they missing someone?

"Hey, kid, what's your name? And are you missing someone important?" I asked tired of not knowing his name.

"My names Lincoln! And this is Ronnie Anne, my girlfriend, and then my best friend Clyde!" He told me this as he jumped around, for someone who just had tried to order me this is definitely...odd. He kept jumping around looking at his friends who weren't as excited and looked to be a bit annoyed at his actions. I sure as hell am. After a few minutes of "play" time people, who I can only assume is his family, began to show up. Eventually, there were 12 people in the room with me, damn, did the parents even know what a condom was? After the last member entered the guards had left us. Guess they trust in their abilities well enough to be in a small room, with a stranger.

"Lincoln this better be important, especially seeing as you pulled us from reviewing the supplies." The two other adults in the room asked.

"Yeah, I was just about to start teaching Francisco how to fight." The one in the red and white t-shirt scowled, with a small blush. I'm going to assume this "Francisco" was her crush.

"Don't worry guys I promise you it is! This is-" He said before I cut him off.

"Please, I'll introduce myself." Personally, I hate it when they want to introduce me, I can speak for myself. "I'm known as Harbinger and I'm a merc."

"Okay? And? Lincoln, did you literally waste our time with this guy?" The tall blonde said passing her child maybe? Off to her boyfriend, I assume.

"No, I swear Lori, Harbinger please tell them what you do!"

"I don't know what it is but he got really excited when I'm told him I specialize in finding people. I'm going to assume you're looking for someone?" I inquired, not once in my career have I seen someone literally jump up and down after finding out about my profession. Both verbally and mentally I've gone over this several times, and that's just today. As I looked on I saw all of their faces light up, the parents looked at each other and smiled while the kids began celebrating. I think I figured it out. "So, judging by your reactions I need to find a child/ sibling correct? Also don't celebrate yet, I haven't done a damn thing." They either didn't hear me or didn't care.

"Hey! I have a few questions for you all!" I raised my voice so at least someone could hear me.

"Kids, quiet down and let him speak!" The parents ordered. "Go ahead and ask whatever you need!"

"First off, don't assume I'm going to take on this job, I don't even know who I'm looking for. Second, you do realize if I take this contract, it could take anywhere from weeks to months to find them. Plus bringing them back. If they're alive. Now then, I need details before making a final decision." I blandly listed off, I've had to preach those same words to every client I've come across.

"Does anyone have a picture of her?!" Lincoln asked looking around frantically.

"A picture that you don't want to be ripped." I added.

"Yeah I have one in my wallet, I have a picture of each of you in there!" The father added stepping towards me, it's hard to believe this middle aged, balding man has so many kids. He opens his worn, leather wallet and flips through the clear plastic sleeves that hold the pictures. He finally stops on one and pulls it out, handing it to me I examine it. Before me on this picture I see a punk rocker girl. With a brown pixie cut hairstyle, a purple shirt depicting a skull, and- paper clip earrings? Interesting.

"When was this picture taken?" Hopefully not too long ago, seeing as they live here things like pictures shouldn't be hard.

"About four and half years ago." The father said, busy trying to put his wallet away.

While he was struggling the kids looked at me with longing looks. Thing is, almost all of the people I look for from those cases are dead. At this point, you're probably wondering how I find these people. Well, you'll find out later.

"Four years huh? Well, I hate the be the bearer of bad news, but chances are she's already dead. Or zombified. Most of my cases similar to this wind up with finding them dead. Plus a case such as this will take weeks, maybe even a month." I let those words leave my dry lips and bland as possible. I've learned emotions only make things worse, for both parties.

"NO, SHE ISN'T!" Lincoln shouted, his happy demeanor quickly boiling over into rage. Along with his siblings, who began glaring at me. Not surprising, as you guessed it, I'm used to it. And I know just how to deal with this. Usually, I would continue the truth, makes it easier for me later, but I do have my moments and after seeing the youngest, save the baby begin to tear up, I didn't have the heart to continue. Yes, I have a soft side.

I try to sound bit hopeful for their sake, "Look, maybe she's not," I then paused to finish the sentence in my head before sighing, "Look, I'll take the case, BUT I am going to need more details; interests, who she's traveling with, places she would go, things like that."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" I was asked by a smaller girl dressed in black. Everyone jumped at her words beside me, did no-one see her standing there?

"Because I like seeing families reunited. And judging by your reactions, you want her back. Sooner I can get the details, the sooner I can start."

"Right!" The mother said. "Her name is Luna Loud,-" Wait Loud? Why does that sound familiar? "-She always wears purple and she loves music."

"The last we saw her, she was heading towards her girlfriend's house." The little blonde dressed as a mechanic said.

"So, purple, music, and girlfriend. What do you know about this girlfriend?" I inquired, needing to know more.

"Her name is Sabrina, and she has a sister named Liz!" Another little blonde said, but this one dressed like she was a princess.

"What does she look like?"

"Black hair, and a foot taller than Luna, oh and she has a dog as well!" Lori chimed in.

"What kind of dog?"

"I think it was a pit bull?" Lana added back in. That's all I needed to hear, if they had a dog they needed to be saved!

"I can work with that, do you know where this girlfriend's house is?" I asked, hoping to start my investigation there.

"Yeah, it's about 4 blocks to the north of here. The address is 1547 S Woodrow street."

"Have you been there since this started?" I asked because if they were it could jeopardize the investigation.

"No, but now that I literally think about it why didn't we?" Lori asked.

"Be glad you didn't, if you did and messed around with things it would make tracking them all the more harder," I informed then bringing them relief. "Let's just hope that it's been left alone since then. Alright, with this information, I'll head that way. Anything you need or want me to know before I leave?"

"When you find her...regardless of whether she's alive or dead, please let us know." The father said staring intently at the floor

"Don't worry, I will."

 **-Transition-**

 **45 minutes later**

I arrived at the girlfriend's house not too long after I left. The sun had just perched itself directly over house looked worse for wear, the years have not been good to it. It was boarded up from the outside, never a good sign. It was a two story house with two windows on either side of the door, and a wrap around porch. It looked like the house was supposed to be white, but now dried blood stained the walls. Decaying bodies littered the front yard and porch seems as if someone was here, but judging how bad the decay was, it was quite a while ago. I walked up to the front door and I could barely read what was painted on the boards. "Do not open." Hmm, good thing I don't listen to paint. I pulled the shovel off of my back and began attacking the boards. With only a few hits each board broke, now exposing the broken door. I sheathed my shovel and brought out my knife, not knowing what awaited me inside. I slowly pushed open the door, to be greeted by a grizzly sight. There were bodies everywhere, covering the entire floor. I cautiously walked in, checking my corners for any zombies that may be in here. I could hear a very faint crying, coming from a doorway to my left. I closed the door behind and braced with the couch. I made my way towards the doorway, adrenaline began pumping through my body. Through the door was a kitchen, a very dark kitchen.

It was too dark to see anything 2 inches before me, but the crying had grown stronger. I had my suspicions as to what it was but decided to wait until I found the source. I pulled a flashlight out from one of my side pockets, turning it on the details of the kitchen came to light. Had I taken another step forward I would have tripped on the dining room table, which was tipped and missing a leg. The chairs were better off being firewood at the point, splintered and broken across the floor. I noticed something written on the wall but before I could investigate more, the crying became louder, right in front of me. I quickly turned realizing what was before me, the light shone on a crying figure sitting at the end of the table.

As the light shone on her she turned to me and I could see the wound in her arm that turned her. Her skin was a light shade of blue, and her face was stained by tears that no longer flowed. Her eyes were completely black along with her teeth and nails. I call these types of zombies criers. These are the only other variation of undead besides zombies, and they only become criers if terrible things happened to them around the time they turned. At least I believe they do, most of them that I've found is sitting before a loved one they've killed. Doing so right after turning can turn them. Or seeing something that can trigger the inner deep thoughts of who they used to be. They are harmless, however, all they do is cry near what made them. They don't move or even attempt to attack, if one wanted to they could even touch it, I've done so by accident and the only response they gave was a series of moans.

I looked around for what could make her a crier, after finding no body in the immediate area I glanced at the wall she was sitting before. That's when I noticed what the wall had said, "Cabin" with a streak of blood trailing off towards the floor. Somehow, 'cabin' is related to this crier behind me. I left the kitchen to find more clues as to where they could be. And to find out who that crier was. I walked back into the living room to look for any pictures. Unfortunately the only ones I found we stained with blood rendering them useless. The rest of the first floor provided nothing that could help.

"Dammit, I only hope the second has at least something to help," I mumbled to myself growing irritated that nothing's popped up yet. As I head upstairs I noticed that it's been completely untouched. It seemed almost pristine compared to the first floor, the carpet was clean and the walls had little scuff marks. I went down the hallway the first door, it was labeled "Sabrina".

"Well, found her room," I muttered the obvious to no one but myself.

I stepped inside to be greeted by a sight that not many females held. Her room was decorated with awards and medals for various sports, the only ones that caught my eye, however, were the marksmanship awards. Finding someone with this many was rare. Let alone a female, not to be sexist, but let's be honest here. In a city, finding a gun toting female was nigh impossible, even gun toting males were hard to find. Now, if you go out to the countryside you'll find plenty of gun toters out there. I looked around some more and noticed that her closet was still, open, her bed neatly made, and small foot locker across from her bed. Whoever this chick is, she knows how to take care of herself and her room. A picture frame on her dresser was of most interest to me now. I walked over and looked at it to see it was of her and Luna, Luna had her arm wrapped around Sabrina with her tongue sticking out. I removed and folded it, storing it in my pocket for later. Use it to help me identify Sabrina, and then give it them if I find them alive, or as criers. After nothing else in the room helped I left to go to the next, which was labeled "Liz."

Her room was completely different than her sisters. Sloppy with clothes lying everywhere. I dreaded going in, but I needed to find something that would help me recognize her. After searching for what seemed like forever, nothing came up. Leaving her room disappointed I was back in the hallway with three doors to choose from. A door a few feet away from Liz's door, then two at the end of the hallway. I assumed the one closer to me was a closet so I ignored it. I went down towards the end and was left with two choices, left or right. If this house was similar to others, the left was the bathroom while the right was a bedroom. I chose right for obvious reasons and my assumption was correct. It was the master bedroom, the parents to be more specific. I walked in and noticed that like Sabrina's, it was nice and neat, with everything organized. Finding clues in here would be easy, seeing as every parent has pictures of their kids. I walked in to immediately find a picture, it depicted a family standing before an old timey wooden cabin. Guess that's what "Cabin" meant. The family consisted of Sabrina, Liz, their dog, the mother, and father. After closer inspection, the mother in the photo looked like the crier down in the Kitchen. It all made sense now. The mother must have had to push her kids towards the cabin after she was bit, and "Cabin" was a message meant for the father. His build and posture made it look like he served in the military. Which would make sense as to why Sabrina had marksmanship awards. Now a new problem arose. Where is the cabin?

I looked around the room a bit more hoping to find something that'll lead me to the cabin. There has to be something here, something that leads me to the damned cabin. I tore through the dresser, nightstand, and closet to find nothing. I was becoming very vexed at this, how did they not have directions? Before I could continue my mental rant I was interrupted by the sound of the door downstair creaking open.

"Shit!" I whispered to myself, quickly making my way to the doorway, and pulling my combat knife out, ready to defend myself from whoever, or whatever came in. I began to make myself towards the stairs before the crying became almost banshee like. I glanced down into the living room to see the crier screeching at them, confused, the three zombies that had come in began to moan and scream at her. They advanced towards her only for the first to be struck down by her now long claw like nails. Blood splattered onto the wall behind the invaders, the second grabbed onto her and bit into her arm. This only angered her causing her to screech, even more, she pulled him in and sliced across his face, making both his eyes pop out of his skull. With his sight now hindered he tried to bite onto her, which ended with her hand going straight through his head. By this point, the third got behind her and bit into her shoulder. What normally would be a shower of blood only resulted in blood leaking from the wound, the problem that emerged from this was she couldn't attack him. I knew I had to help, even if she is undead, she is the mother of my targets. I ran down towards her, I saw her glance at me before my knife went into the head of her assailant. His body went limp and fell to the floor, ripping light blue flesh on his way down. It didn't seem to bother her though, as she looked at me, small tears began to flow. How is that possible? She shouldn't be able to cry, wait is that blood? She was crying blood. She continued looking at me as if she wanted something.

"Heh, good thing I saved the day, although I never thought I'd save an undead." I joked. That's when she made a noise that almost sounded like she laughed. Wait! Can she understand me? "Can you understand me?!" I almost shouted, if she could understand, she's the lead I was looking for. She just stood there and stared on, either ignoring me or what happened earlier was just a coincidence. "Can you understand me?!" I asked again hoping to get something out of her. But there was no response, just like earlier. Dammit, I guess it was a bit far fetched. Wait! What if I show her the picture from Sabrina's room. I pulled the picture out and showed it to her. "I'm trying to find Sabrina." As Sabrina left my dry lips, her eyes widened. She looked at me and then the picture, she out stretched her hand and caressed her fingers down Sabrina's face. That's it! I have to say things that trigger memories. "Can you show me where the cabin is?" I asked hoping Cabin would trigger something. But she seemed too entranced by the picture, blood began to pour from her eyes. She began to sob as she looked at the picture and for a moment, only a moment I felt bad for her. This crier, their mother would never be able to hold her children again. Never see them again, never tell them she loves them again. But I do need to know where the cabin is. I needed to try something else. "Sabrina, at cabin?" Maybe simplifying the question would help. The next thing to happen surprised me.

"C-c-cabin?" She sputtered out, then in one of her eyes, the black faded away to reveal a blue eye, a human eye. What the hell is going on?

"Yes! Cabin, can you tell me where it is, so I can find your daughters?" I asked excitedly. This was amazing, the first time I've seen anything like this. A crier regaining consciousness, their humanity.

"Y-yes, you find…k-kids?" She asked, with a low husky howl.

"Yeah, I can find them, only if you show me where the CABIN is." Emphasizing cabin should help. Her one eye sparkles and then she motions for me to follow her, she takes me outside into the front yard. Standing there she points to the north woods, near a small mountain.

"C-cabin, there." She said continuing to point.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "When I find them, I'll bring them back to you, I swear." She attempted to smile at that before the black began to take back her eye. Before I knew it, she was back to being a crier. She looked into the house and walked back towards it. Most likely back to cabin, that makes me wonder if it's possible to revert certain criers. Another problem for another day, for now, the cabin was my priority.

After a whole day of traveling through the wilderness and surviving several zombie attacks, I finally reached the cabin. Looking at the picture to make sure it was the one I was looking for, I was relieved to find that it was. Thank god too, I wasn't looking forward to more hiking. Upon studying the building more, it was clear, nothing seems to have touched it, only hoping that it's similar on the inside. Walking up to the archaic building, I set my hand on the rusted knob that I've swept my eyes over.

Immediately chills are sent shooting down my spine, I didn't like how quiet it was, considering the way up here wasn't as such. I shook the handle, trying to get it to open, deciding that it was safer to move inside, "Come on, open," I whisper to myself, quietly cursing under my breath.

It took a bit of 'convincing', but after a few seconds, I finally got it to turn. Only to be greeted by the barrel of a gun, "Who the fuck are you?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Act III**

 **Chapter 7**

It's been a few days since we arrived here, and I didn't take into account that water was a thing. Our food storage could last three weeks if we rationed correctly, but we had little water, and alcohol doesn't exactly keep us hydrated and healthy. We've been planning on where to find any, we could go down to the lake, but we would have to purify the water. Which would take longer than desired.

"So, then where are we gonna go?" Liz asked rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Well, according to this map," We found the map in the office yesterday. "There is a convenience store, only a few blocks away. Or we could get water from the lake and try that." I stated pointing at the areas on the map.

"I don't think the lake would be a good option seeing as we'll have to clean it," Luna said sitting with Evee in her lap.

"Why would we have to clean it?" Liz asked quizzically.

"Because everyone likes to dump bodies there, both the former living and undead." I stated in a bit of annoyance, considering that this is the third time I've had to tell her, "I don't think you want to drink water that's had human blood and guts festering in it."

"EW no!" She retorted.

"Alright then, which means we need to go check out the convenience store, although I wouldn't get your hopes up. After four years, I doubt they'll have anything."

"What about the rain?" Liz asked.

"With the virus potentially in the air, we can't chance it. Why do you think we tell you not to drink rain water?"

"If it's in the air, then why haven't we turned?" She inquired sounding like a smartass.

"Dude, we're probably already infected with it, we just have to die or something for it to take effect." Luna took over, keeping me from getting too frustrated.

"Oh, that doesn't make sense," Liz responded with a tone of defeat.

"It is how it is dude." Luna retorted back.

"So wait, if we already have it, they why would drinking rain water be bad?" Liz asked.

"Because," Luna sighed, facepalming. "The dead bodies in the lake most likely cause it to have other diseases, and if they evaporate into the air, we'd be drinking dead bodies essentially," Luna said becoming more frustrated.

"But-" Liz tried to argue.

"BECAUSE THE WRITER CAN'T KEEP THIS UP!" I shouted at her.

"The writer?" She asked.

"Nevermind, don't worry about it..." I said trailing my voice off.

Luna looked at me and smiled, I returned the smile, "Then we need to get to the store. When do we wanna go?"

"Soon, for obvious reason," Luna chimed in, looking over at me, "You look a bit frustrated, love. Let me give you a massage," she gently added in her faux British accent before coming over, sitting behind me and gently massaging my shoulders.

I melt a little, smiling, "Mmh, just a little lower… That's the spot," I moaned, melting a bit more, "But anyway, yeah, let's head out in a few."

"Uh-huh, I'm gonna give you two some alone time, Evee, come." Liz rolled her eyes and got up.

"What? It's just a massage, sis" I give her a lame look.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," she walks into the main room, shutting the door behind her and Evee.

"She's such a weirdo," I say trying to break the attempted awkward atmosphere.

Luna turned me around to face her, smiling and looking me straight in the eyes. I could feel the heat rising to my face and the tips of my ears as I smiled back sheepishly. She laid a hand on my cheek, gently stroking, her cheeks went pink as well. She puts her hand on the back of my head, gently messing with my choppy hair, making my heart race as my eyes land on that beautiful face of hers, "Luna… I- I don't think now is the time…" My voice trailed as she put a finger to my lips.

"I. Don't. Care. Love," she let her finger slide down my lips, my heart skipping a beat. My stomach starts to flutter as she draws closer to me, touching her nose with mine. Staring into those beautiful blue eyes I remember the feelings I first had for her, and I smiled a bit before hearing her soft whispers break the silence; "You're blushing my love."

"I-I-..." I stuttered trying to find my words, but she had me in her trap.

Dropping her hand, she took a hold of mine, interlacing our fingers together. She put her other arm around my lower back. Pulling me in, she locked our lips together, the warmth of her lips against mine made the world around me come to a crash. My brain went blank and the only thoughts that came to me were her. As the kiss became more passionate we wrapped our arms around each other and fell to the floor, lacing my fingers through her hair doing my best not to pull on it I embraced the kiss even more. She left the embrace leaving a small trail of saliva from our lips, beginning to tease me by drawing her finger down my lips onto my shirt. She tugged at the collar of the button down flannel I was wearing, tracing her fingers around my breasts before moving the buttons, slowly undoing them, revealing my cleavage. My face must have been entirely red at this point, seeing as she let out a small chuckle. She continued teasing me, bringing her lips down onto my neck. I let out soft moans as she kissed and licked my neck in an attempt to turn me on, and dammit it was working. I could feel her begin light love bites, while one of her hands began caressing my breast. My moaning became louder as she bit harder, while also increasing the tempo of her hand movement on my breast. I couldn't take it anymore, my turn.

As we sat up I pulled away from her embrace and made my move, going back in for another kiss I placed my hands at the bottom of her shirt. Removing it in one swift movement, taking her by surprise, revealing her bare breasts. I began caressing them ever so carefully while interlocking our tongues together. I pulled away once more and pushed her to the ground, I positioned myself over her staring into her eyes. Her smile turned me on more than anything at this point, that damned smile. I went down to let my lips meet with her breast only to be interrupted by Evee's barking.

"Guys! There's-" Liz yelled bursting through the door, immediately turning red. "U- uhm…"

All Luna and I could do were lay there and stare at her awkwardly and watch as her face seemed to go redder than a tomato, "I'm just gonna… You should probably… Just- Just get out here as soon as you can…" Her voice wavered and trailed as she slowly closed the door.

"Should we see about that…?" I looked over at Luna.

"Mmh, no. She can wait," Luna smiles at me, pulling me in for another kiss and embracing me.

Leaving the kiss, I gently bit her bottom lip. Pulling away and stretching her lip as far as possible before letting her free. I moved my sights back down to her pale breasts. My gaze shifted back to her eyes before locking my lips onto her succulent nipples. Resulting in pleasureful moans leaving her body. The next 20 minutes consisted of breast play and the removal of pants. I'll spare all the details, but it was heavenly. After we caught our breaths and could feel our legs, we got dressed and headed out to meet with Liz.

"So, what did you need?" I asked still trying to hide my blush. She looked in my direction, but at my feet, and I could see her face still red.

"Y-you guys are lucky it was only some animal out there Evee was barking out."

"Yeah sorry dude," Luna laughed rubbing the back of her head. "We got a bit carried away."

"I don't want to hear about it! Let's just go get the water, okay?" She asked putting her attention towards Evee, who sat there confused.

"Yeah, let's go," I stated, putting my backpack on. "Evee, stay here. I don't think we'll need you for this." We looked out the small view hole we made in the wall to make sure we were in the clear. After seeing no zombies and deciding the coast was clear we left the building.

 **-Transition-**

The trip to the store was simple, killed quite a few zombies on the way there. Liz had to save me once or twice, my mind was...elsewhere.

"Liz, what's the inside like?" I asked positioning myself behind her.

"Um, there's a case of water in the middle of the floor, other than that I don't see anything."

"Wait, in the middle of the floor?" I asked suspiciously, I knew what this was.

Question is, why?

"Yeah, just sitting there waiting."

"This has bad written all over it, don't you think love?" Luna asked, she was right, a trap laid out for us.

"I'm going to grab it, cover me!" Liz announced as she moved inside.

"Liz no!" I shouted in response trying to grab her.

Too late. She stepped closer to the case, as she got closer fear began to consume me. I began looking around, watching for whoever left this here to attack us.

"Got it!" She said, looking at us, holding it. As I waited for people to attack us, nothing came. Not even more zombies.

"Then hurry up and get out here dude!" Luna ordered.

"Right!" She came back through holding the case. Nothing about it seemed suspicious, which made it even more suspicious. It was in too perfect condition.

"Let's head back, but keep your guard up. I don't like how convenient this was."

"Right!" They both said in unison. We kept up a faster pace on the way back than we did on the way here, hoping that if those who wanted to ambush any sorry soul to grab that water, weren't behind us.

"Halfway there girls." I looked out of the corner of my eye to see someone come out from behind the corner of a building. Then two, then three. "Girls run!" I shouted, now seeing a numerous amount of people begin to give chase from our left side.

"Let's get back to the brewery!" Liz shouted giving away our safe house.

Dammit, what is up with her today? We bolted into a full sprint only to see zombies erupt from a building that was previously boarded up. There had to be at least twenty of them, half went towards the people chasing us while the other half pursued me and the girls.

"Get'em boys!" I heard one of them shout, I then heard loud gunshots coming from behind. Hopefully at the zombies.

"Boss, what about the girls?"

"Grab them and will take them back with us!" Oh hell no, if they think they can even lay a finger on Luna and Liz I'll rip out their throats and feed them to the zombies. Our safe house was in sight, thankfully no one was around it, I looked back and saw that the men chasing us killed the zombies with ease and resumed chase almost keeping pace.

"W-what do we do now sis?" Liz sputtered through her breath.

I pause for a moment, thinking before saying, "Follow me!" I break off in the opposite direction, hoping to find some cover from them or at least something that we could use to distract the men.

Luna and Liz both follow, Liz looking back, "They're following us!"

"That's ok, I promise, just...Just trust me, ok?!" I insist, desperately glancing around trying to get an idea of what we could do to lose them, or at the very least make them confused.

I turn again, letting my mind race as I hear Luna and Liz shout at me to wait. I look back, further behind our spread apart group I still see a few men following us. Looking at where I'm running I see a few more zombies. "Here!" I called back to the girls, hoisting myself up into a tree from two low-hanging branches. They both get up here after handing me the water.

We wait with baited breaths as the men walk by.

"Now what?" Liz asked.

"Well thanks to you we can't go back to the safe house, they know about it," I said with an annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry, I panicked okay? I couldn't get the thought of what you two did out of my head." She said, her face turning red once more. "And don't get me started on the sounds, my god."

"Well, you didn't have to listen!" I argued back. "You could've covered your ears, or played with Evee-..." My voice trailed off at the realization that we left her there. "Evee's still back there!" I said, watching as it dawned on all three of us that something could be going very wrong at the brewery right now.

"Oh my god! We need to go get her!" Liz said.

"Come on, we'll leave the water here and rescue her."

"No, I'll go. I can't risk us being found by those guys again, I'll get in, get her, and meet back up with you here." I said looking towards the ground.

"You, can't go alone! What if they get you?" Liz asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, I'm the one who told her to stay, it's my fault," I said moving for the branch to get down.

"Sabrina stop!" Liz quietly attempted to order.

"Don't argue with me, this is my decision and you will respect it," I said calmly, now is the not the time to get frustrated.

"B-but" She tried again.

"Don't do it, love!" Luna added in.

"Ugh, look I don't like it, but if we all go and one or two of you get captured, I would never forgive myself," I said scanning the ground for any undead or thugs. Before either of the could argue I jumped in one swift movement, rolling once I hit the ground to absorb the shock. I took off in a silent run towards the town, not looking back to avoid the disappointing looks from the two. The trek to the town was simple, only a few zombies here and there. The town, however, was crawling with those creeps. As I moved through avoiding them to my best abilities I finally made it to see them tearing down the barricades in the brewery, rendering it useless.

"How am I going to get Evee?" I ask myself hiding behind a small shed. I could sneak in, but I doubt I'd be able to do that. Maybe, I can break open one of these buildings and let the zombies loose. Causing mass chaos and confusion for a bit, giving me a window to grab Evee. Yeah, I could do that. But before I could I saw Evee taking off in the opposite direction of the woods I came from, she was being chased by a few of those sick bastards. Suddenly the town became quiet, too quiet…

"Goodnight bitch!"

 **-Transition-**

 **15 Minutes Later**

 **Luna's POV**

It's been too long since Sabrina left. I should have paid more attention, instead, I let my mind wander to what we did earlier. The rare magical moment we shared, we've only done it three other times and that was when we knew we were completely safe. The way her tongue-

"Hey, Luna? It's been awhile hasn't it?" Liz asked pulling me out of my trance. While she did get on my nerves way too many times to count I still love her like a little sister. We've been through so much together, killing zombies, killing people, and keeping secrets from Sabrina. Stuff like gifts and what not, nothing serious. Also if you're wondering what happened to the gifts I was going to give her before this started. That asshole who took hold of me tossed them aside, letting them get run over in the street. I'm normally pretty chill, but that made my blood boil, unfortunately, he overpowered me. Anyway, while I still miss my family immensely, I'm glad Liz is here and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yeah, it has been a while. I'm starting to get worried." I responded looking towards the town, it's also been quiet since she left as well. Not a good sign. Normally when she convinces us to let her go alone, she comes back within ten minutes. This time has definitely been longer.

"Should we go check on her?" Liz asked me with worry taking over her voice.

"Yeah, I don't like her being out alone," I replied with a matter of fact tone.

"Should we bring the water?"

"No, leave it here and hide it." We jumped down and hid the water under an inconspicuous pile of leaves and branches.

"That should be good, right?" Liz asked putting a few more leaves on it.

"Yeah, for now. Now then, let's go find her." I replied smacking the flat side of my axe into my hand. We made ourselves towards the town, staying low and killing the occasional zombie. Once we reached the edge of the town we noticed two guards.

"How do you wanna handle this?" Liz asked me in a hushed tone.

"Sneak around the outer area, we don't wanna risk our lives by either dying or alerting them all," I said, motioning for her to follow. If I remember right, the brewery is a bit more towards the lake. We continued on very slowly, occasionally watching our asses for zombies. The closer we got to our safe house, the more people there were. I counted five at the entrance, and at least six or seven on the way here. "Alright, let's-"

"Drop the weapons and put your hands in the air." I heard from behind us, had I not felt the barrel of a gun, I would have attempted to kill him.

I dropped my axe and firearm alongside Liz who dropped her weapons. They picked us up and forced us into the brewery. What I saw next made my heart stop. Sabrina being held by a beast of a man, covered in blood. Her nose and one of her ears were bleeding profusely. Her left eye had gone black, a slash on the side of her head was only big enough to leak some blood. Her right hand looked broken and they had a bear trap clamped onto her right ankle. I could barely tell the tears pouring from her beaten eyes. Her lips were split open and bruises were beginning to form on her neck. My blood was way past boiling, my best friend and the love of my life lay there in a pool of her own blood.

"I'll fucking kill you!" I screamed, breaking free from the thing holding me, I charged towards the man holding her, hoping to end him.

Mid charge I was met with the stock of a gun to my gut, My rage shattering into pain as I double over, sneaking a glance at Liz who was near tears asking 'why us?' and, honestly, I was asking the same question. My head was snapped back by someone yanking my hair, forcing me to look at the man that was holding Sabrina.

"Listen, ladies, this is how it's going to go down. First, we'll all have a turn with that one over there," He said pointing to Liz, "kill her. Then you," He pointed the knife at me, what did he mean a turn? "And finally ending with this sack of shit in my hands. Any questions?" He asked with a grin covering his face.

"I-I have o-one." Sabrina managed to spit out through gurgled blood. Which began trickling out of the corner of her mouth. Just hearing her say it like that pushed me past my breaking point. Tears fell from my eyes, all I want is to see her smile again. "Who t-the fuck d-do you t-think you are? If you t-touch either of-" Is all she got out before she had a coughing fit, blood came from her mouth. I hope to hell that is just blood from her mouth. "E-either of them I-I'll kill you." Even now, she's still acting tough.

"And how do you plan to do that?" He asked laughing. "Oh, the things I'll do to them! First I'll-" Before he could finish, Sabrina grabbed onto his leg with her non-broken hand and scratched him. He let go and yelped. Talk about weak, but just as fast as he let go Sabrina kicked into his knee causing him to fall. "You bitch!" He screamed out in agony before Sabrina glanced in our direction and immediately stopped. I was so distracted by the fight I didn't notice the knife now resting on my neck. I looked over at Liz who was sobbing, a small amount of blood began to seep from the knife against her throat. "Try one more thing and I'll kill them." She complied and sat still staring at him. "Now then, for your punishment, I think I'll take this knife, and carve a nice figure into your stomach." My chest filled with tightness, fear taking over my body as he drew the knife closer to her stomach. "I'll start from the left and go across-!"

"PLEASE GOD NO!" I begged, which only strengthened the pressure on my neck. He ignored me, the knife practically on top of her now. She looked at me and weakly smile, mouthing the words 'I love you.'Her eyes then grew wide with pain as I looked back down to see the knife slowly entering her side. Her tough act soon faded as her screams filled the room. The knife went about an inch deeper, my eyes filled with tears as I turned away, tears blurring my vision as we were hopeless to do anything besides watch as our loved one was tortured in front of us, off to my left I heard Liz wailing, looking over to see her crying through my own teared up eyes, I let my head fall in defeat. This was it. For all three of us. This is how we die.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It's been a few days since Harbinger left. We haven't really heard anything, but that's not surprising considering he said it would take a while. After that run in with him though, the moods gotten considerably lighter and much less serious. We're all hopeful that he'd find Luna and bring her home, even with being realistic about things. If she got to Sabrina, the chances of her being alive are higher, than if she didn't. My sister doesn't exactly have survival skills. All we can do for now is hope for the best.

"Linky!" I heard my older ditzy blonde sister call for me, turning to see her running towards me, almost tripping over herself.

Since the beginning she has never been a fighter, she's always been the one to care for us. It's clear to tell where Lily got it from. We made her wear some kind of protection even if she didn't fight though. We also didn't trust her with a weapon, she'd most likely shoot herself with it. She came up to me and Ronnie Anne, who had a hold of my hand.

"What's up, Leni?" I asked, wondering why she wasn't doing her job for the day.

"So, what decorations should we have for the party?" What the hell did she mean party?

"What party?" I inquired. Ronnie Anne looking at Leni with a quizzical look.

"The party we're going to throw for Luna of course." She beamed at me. I chuckle, smiling. Leni's joy can be very infectious sometimes.

"Why don't we have purple for the color and guitars for decorations. You know, some of her favorite things," I suggested.

"Yeah! Like I could totally do that! Thanks, Linky!" She replied pulling me in for a hug.

"No problem Leni." She ran off back towards the house. Getting a little skip in every now and then, trying not to trip as well. At this point we all wanted to see Luna back, our hopes had risen since we met Harbinger.

"Well, let's hope this guy can find her." Ronnie Anne sighed out loud.

"Yeah, you know what? Let's help out, shirk our duties, what's the worst that can happen?" I asked beginning to pull her towards our house.

"Hold on Lame-o, what's the worst that can happen? Well let's see, some things could stop working for one, two of certain machines go down that could be it for us, and thre-" Before she could finish we heard gunshots and shouting.

"We've got raiders! And they're packing heavy heat!" A random guard shouted followed by explosions and screaming. "They're at the Northgate!"

"Ronnie Anne stay close," I told her taking her by the hand. I started taking us towards my house.

"Where are we going?!" She asked frantically looking around at the emerging chaos.

"My house, the family needs to know what's going on!" I replied picking up the pace. I heard engines revving and people screaming. What the hell is going on?

"T-they've brought zombies!" We heard coming from a guard sprinting past us.I turn around to see a mix of our terrified people and the presumed group of people attacking us, running in our direction. Assholes on motorcycles sped past clubbing people with what looked to be bats, one in particular up ahead of us jumped off and ran into an alley. I have a bad feeling about this. Only a few seconds later I caught up to the alley to see him harassing a small child. She looked to be Lily's age. He was pushing her around and hitting her with his bat.

"Lincoln, we have to help!" My girlfriend shouted at me.

"I plan on it!" And without much thought, I took off towards the guy and jumped onto his back. I pulled the knife out from my boot readying myself to kill him.

"What the fuck? Get off me!" He shouted trying to grab me. While I was distracting him Ronnie Anne ran up and grabbed the crying girl, taking her deeper into the alley still within sight. With the guy now moving frantically in hopes to get me off I attempted to stab his neck. Keyword attempt. I missed. Terribly, he had almost moved in a way a rodeo bull would and thrust me forward and I completely flipped off of him. I slammed back first in the ground knocking the breath out of me, my knife had found its way into my opposite bicep.

Ronnie Anne's POV

The second I saw Lincoln fall to the ground I knew I had to intervene. Without saying anything to the girl, I let go of her and with a burst of energy, I charged at the man. My game plan was to tackle him and get the bat out of his hands. I slammed straight into him, and achieved my first objective, as for my second, not so much.

Lincoln's POV

Before I knew it, I saw Ronnie Anne tackle the guy away from me, as they began to wrestle I stood without giving myself time to regain my breath. Pulling the knife from my arm and ignoring the pain, I quickly made my way towards them. I raced over to them, trying to see where I could stab the guy without hurting my girlfriend. I then rushed in and stabbed his lower back immediately causing him to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. As he fell I grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back, I brought my knife to his throat and with extreme pressure, I drew it across his throat. His blood began to gush out, following the beat of his heart. I leaned him against me and drove my knife straight into his heart. The blood slowly stopped gushing out and the man went limp. Before pushing him down I stabbed him in the temple ensuring that he couldn't turn. As he fell I looked towards Ronnie Anne who was now brushing the dust off of her.

"Are you okay?" I asked her wiping my knife on the corpse's shirt.

"I'm fine, what about you? Your arm looks pretty bad." She said pointing at where the knife had found itself earlier.

"Yeah, it hurts like a bitch, we'll wrap it and then go get the girl." I start ripping off part of my shirt sleeve to wrap the wound.

"Alright, I'll go get he-" Ronnie Anne fell abruptly silent.

"What is it," I ask, as soon as I look over to where she's looking I stop.

"Oh god..." Ronnie Anne whispers, wide-eyed.

"Goddamnit!" I drop what I was doing, rushing the zombie and killing it with a swift stab to the head. I look down at the girl, shaking my head, "It's too fucking late," I glare at the corpse. "Whoever these fuckers are, they're going to die!" I raise my voice, ripping the knife out of the zombie's head in a fit of anger.

"I- I'm sorry..." Ronnie Anne came up behind me, sounding grief-stricken and terrified as she handed me the makeshift bandage I was previously wrapping around my arm.

"It's not your fault. Let's just finish wrapping my wound and go home." I let my anger simmer down before taking the bandage and wrapping my wound. It would have to do, for now, I take her hand and we make for the alley's entrance. We were silent on our travels, up until the moment we got out of the alleyway where someone collided into me, knocking me to the ground and taking a hold of my neck. I begin to put up a struggle when I hear Ronnie Anne, "Lynn?" I opened my eyes to see Lynn on-top of me, now holding my neck.

"Ronnie Anne?" Lynn blinked, looking down, "Lincoln! Shit, sorry bro!" She immediately released me, standing up and helping me back on my feet.

"What are you doing out here?" Ronnie Anne still seemed shaken by the sight.

"I was just looking for you guys...Lincoln what happened to your arm?!" Lynn asked worriedly.

"Accidentally stabbed myself while fighting some ass hat. I won obviously but we need to get back to the house and lock it down." I replied pushing the injury subject away. "Is everyone else there?"

"Let's talk on the way." She suggested tugging at my shirt.

"Agreed, come on Ronnie Anne," I said looking back at her, unfortunately, she was getting worse about the ordeal. "Look, I know what just happened was bad, but we can't dwell on it, we need to go now!"

"Y-yeah okay!" She piped up, wiping the look off of her face, even though I know it'll bother her for a time. We started off back from our house, which was only a five minutes jog away.

"Wait, what happened?" Lynn asked.

"Nothing important…" A pit grew in my stomach as guilt washed over me. "Continue with what you were saying earlier.

"Right, well anyway, I was going to train the newbs with Luce, who was being typical Luce and wanting to know what coffin sizes they were. We heard the explosions as we got there, so I had whoever was there round up the family while I went to go get you since everyone else was already nearby," she pauses for a breath, "I ran into Clyde on my way to find you, and he pointed me to where you might've been. I can't just let my little bro be out here on his own."

"Thanks, Lynn. So is everybody back at the house then?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure, guess we'll find out." She said as we came up to the house. We quickly ran inside and to our relief everyone was present. Including Clyde and his dad's.

"Lincoln! It's so good to see you're okay. You to Ronnie Anne." My mom said as she ran up to hug me.

"You too mom," I replied returning the hug.

"Oh, my god what happened to your arm honey?" She asked worriedly, pulling away slightly to look at it. I had to respond quickly, lest my sisters go crazy trying to help me.

"I got into a fight with a raider and I accidentally stabbed myself." Pulling away from the embrace completely.

"Does it hurt?" My mom asked still looking at it.

"Like a bitch, which reminds me, hey Lisa, can you help me patch this up?" I asked hoping no one else would intervene.

"Of course eldest male sibling, it would be my pleasure." She responded before running up to her room.

"We can help too Linky!" My sister shouted in unison.

"T-that's not necessary. Really." I said going to sit down on the now vacant chair next to the couch. Some time passed with small talk and telling them about what happened. Lisa had come down and started addressing my wound. She cleaned it before stitching it up.

"You must be less clumsy in the future brother," Lisa said packing her supplies up.

"I'll try Lisa, no promises though." I chuckled before seeing her adjust her glasses ever so perfectly in the light to make the glare shroud her eyes. Giving me an ominous look.

"Lincoln, do you literally know what we're going to do?" Lori had asked me. She and Bobby were sitting on the main couch with Lori holding Lilith wrapped up in a cozy blanket, and Bobby had one arm around my sister.

"Well, we gotta try and clear this place out, if we do that we should be okay," I said standing up and walking over to kiss Lilith on her forehead.

"First we need to get the Rides here." My father said. "With them, we can come up with a plan. They were always better than me at stuff like that." The Rides were the co-founders of Purgatory, and I just remembered that they have a son missing. I wish I told Harbinger that...dammit.

"Don't sell yourself, short daddy, remember who comes up with the towns meal plans." Lola quickly said, stopping dad from saying anything else.

"Haha, I guess you're right, Lola." He responded cheerfully

"Where are they then?" Ronnie Anne asked as I picked Lily up and give her our signature bear hug. Yeah, even when we're under attack I take the time to love my family. Don't like it? Bite me.

"Don't you worry miss Ronnie Anne, we're right here. Fashionably late as ever!" The father of the Ride family said standing in our doorway with a bloody crowbar.

"You better hope that blood doesn't stain the carpet, it'll be one cell of a time removing it. Haha, get it?" Luan chimed in with her terrible pun. We all groaned in disappointment, all except Lily who fell to the floor laughing.

Father Ride came in and the rest of his family followed suit. His wife, three daughters and then the son that wasn't lost. They were carrying some crates which most likely contained the last handguns this camp had. They've either been lost to the wilderness or we can no longer find ammo for them.

"Maggie, how do you put up with her?" Lana asked while facepalming.

"I'd rather not say…" She responded with a light blush.

"Dark humor is humorous and all, but we must eradicate the enemies who decided it would be a good plan to attack us here." Lisa said, "I'm honestly surprised they haven't struck at the generators. It really is common sense."

"Right… so here's the plan…" Father Ride pulled out a map of Purgatory and laid it before us.

We discussed a quick plan in where Lynn, Ronnie Anne, Clyde, Luan, Maggie and I would go through the left side of town and clear out any invaders and undead, all while sending survivors back to our house. The reason he chose Luan and Maggie to go with us is because they're the next oldest that don't have a baby to take care of. He and his family would take the right side and do the same. The rest of my sisters will fortify the house and prepare it for the incoming survivors.

"Everybody understand?" Father Ride asked, wanting a quick response.

"Yes, sir!" My team responded in failed unison.

"What about us?" Harold, Clyde's dad had asked.

"You'll stay here and help us protect the house." My mom had said placing her hand on Harold's shoulder.

"Right, Lincoln, your team A, switch to channel two on your walkie." He suggested although it might as well be an order. "Keep us updated and let us know what happens."

"Understood," I responded looking at him and his family.

"Good, there should be guns in here for all of you, the one clip is it so use it wisely." He said straightening up and moving off to talk to my dad.

"Team A, on me!" I shouted, calling over my team to discuss our team plan. They came over and huddled around me. "Alright, we're going to stick close to each other and you need to shout out if you need help. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"You got it Lincoln!"

"Sure thing Linc."

"Of course Lincoln!"

"Yeah Lame-o."

"Alright then, let's go."

Transition

The trek through our side of town was full of murder and zombies, thankfully we found a lot of survivors and sent them back to our house. Maggie almost got bit, but we saved her, well, Luan did. Fucking zombie came out of nowhere and grabbed her hair. I've never seen Luan so pissed, she went from punny to I'm going to murder every last zombie real quick. She had a bat and let's just say the zombies head became paste faster than you could say Ace Savvy.

The worst part was going house to house clearing each one out. The whole ordeal took around 3-4 hours, and let me tell you something, fuck that the sun was just beginning to set.

"Guys, we're almost to the front gate. Let's just hope the Rides haven't been waiting too long for us." I said wiping the sweat from my forehead, unintentionally wiping blood across it as well. I received nods as acknowledgments. Even the athlete Lynn was exhausted and thirsty, we had run out water about an hour ago. We came to the front gate to see the full damage, the gates were blown open by what looked like makeshift bombs. And we weren't alone. There was a group of raiders waiting, for what I can assume to be any stragglers trying to run. Fortunately, I didn't recognize any of the corpses around them as someone I knew closely. One of the raiders looked oddly familiar...wait a minute. It's that asshole from a few days ago, the one who only wanted to speak to an adult. And Ronnie Anne and Clyde just realized who he is as well. I couldn't risk them hearing us so I shut the walkie off and quietly turned to my team.

"Guys, on my count open fire and leave that middle guy for me. I have a score to settle with him." I whispered hoping I wouldn't have to repeat myself. Besides my target, there were only four others. Enough that we could handle. "3, 2-" Before I could finish I watched his head explode, his comrades now confused followed suit a few second later. God dammit! I wanted to kill him. We walked out and saw the Rides doing the same. "What the hell was that?" I asked kicking my now dead targets body.

"We didn't know you were here. Did you wanna kill him?" Father Ride said putting his gun away.

"Don't worry about it Linc lets just get this cleaned up and repair the gate," Lynn said picking up one the bodies.

"Yeah, whatever." I sighed, I really wanted to kill him.

Clean up took another few hours, we had to put the corpses in a pile and burn them, yeah the fire would attract zombies but not as many as a pile of corpses. The gate was another story, we had to use wood and resources from the now vacant houses. It wasn't fully repaired until past midnight.

"Alright, let's head back and give the good news." Father Ride said.

You're probably wondering why we call him Father Ride. Well, no one besides his family knows his first name, apparently, it's a running gag, which is almost as annoying as Luan's constant puns. About that, I may complain about her puns but they make her happy. And while we groan and moan about them, if they make her happy then we're happy. She is my sister after all and I do love her. I love all my sisters, some people seem to forget that and it's stupid annoying.

"Hey, Luan," I said, grabbing her attention.

"Yeah, Lincoln?" She asked, looking at me.

"Just wanna remind you that I love you," I said with full confidence, not embarrassed because if you're embarrassed to tell your family you love them, there's something wrong with you.

"Love you too Lincoln!" She smiled back at me. Her smile gets me every time, it's very contagious.

"You too Lynn, I love you," I said looking back at her.

"Yeah, yeah I love you too little bro." She chuckled lightly punching my arm. I miss this, just wholesome family moments among us. Yeah, I'm happy with Ronnie Anne, but my family keeps me going. The rest of the way back was reminiscing about the past and laughing. Wishing things weren't the way they were. Once we get back I give Luan and Lynn a quick hug before we head inside. The house was full of people, after a long headcount, we found that we only lost fifty-seven people. And a majority of them were guards. The next hour was getting everyone situated and sending them home.

"What are we going to do about the guards? We lost so many." My mom asked sighing at the heavy losses our protectors faced.

"Simple, we train more and move on. It sucks but it is how it is." Father Ride said packing his family's stuff up.

"Right, but for now, we sleep. We've all had a long night and deserve a rest." I said yawning and rubbing my eyes.

"Don't worry Louds, we'll take watch tonight and then look for more guard candidates tomorrow." Father Ride said before exiting the house.

"You should probably go get cleaned up, honey." My mom said coming over to look at us, she winced when she saw the stitches.

"Haha, right." I tiredly chuckle. Clyde says his goodbyes before returning to his own home. Doing his best to avoid looking at Lori. Even now he still freaks out. My sisters and I went upstairs taking turns washing up. On my way back to my room I say goodnight to all my sisters. Lori and Bobby were tucking Lilith in, Luan and Maggie were just laying down, Lucy was reading her poems, Lynn was snoring heavily in her bed, Leni was reading to Lola and Lana, she moved in with them after Lilith was born, and finally Lily and Lisa were settling down, no experiments tonight thankfully. I entered my room to find Ronnie Anne already sleeping, she looked peaceful considering today's events. I tuck myself right behind her and pull the blankets up to my shoulders.

"Goodnight Ronnie Anne."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Who the fuck are you?" I heard from behind the barrel of what looked to be a hunting rifle, based on the barrel diameter. Look at me, face-to-face with death and I'm judging the diameter of said death. "I'll ask once more, who are you?" I heard the male voice again, only this time more demanding. I guess I should answer him.

"The names Harbinger, I'm a merc." I didn't want to give any job details away for two reasons. First, he could be a potential threat to the town, and two I could jeopardize my mission. He held the gun with complete stillness, focused between my eyes, with the sunset making the shadows hide the man behind the gun he spoke up again.

"A merc? What the hell's a merc doing here?" He asked, the ever-growing presence of fear and hesitation between us becoming apparent.

"That's classified," I responded calmly.

"You broke into my shelter, I'd say classified is out of the question. You have five seconds to answer me before I blow your brains all over the landscape." The man growled, pressing the gun closer to me. I don't have time for this, I grabbed the gun in an attempt to rip it from him. I failed. He had a tighter grip on the gun, and in the split second, I had left I forced the gun upwards as my head dipped back. A round shot off, echoing throughout the mountains, bringing the world around me to a screeching halt. With a sudden force, I was knocked back to see this whole of this man-beast. He stood half a foot taller than me and built like a bear. His beard stretched just below his clavicle, but his hair in a buzzcut fashion. That was all I could see before a fist met my stomach, I could feel myself want to throw up, forcing it down I changed my mindset, from kicking this guy's ass to survival. He threw the gun to the side and tried to strike at me again. I stepped back, dodging his fist and moved in for a throat punch. As I came in he grabbed my striking hand, twisted it and threw me to the ground. My back landed on uneven terrain we began tumbling down the hill the cabin rested on. We tore through brush and small trees until we hit the bottom. Landing on top of me he knocked the air straight out of me, and before I could react his hand found a place around my throat. His eyes showed me he was ready to kill me, I had been at my merc game for a long time now. I've been in plenty of fights and not one of them ended like this. I could see my life flash before my eyes before my vision began fading to black. Just then I looked at the rest of his face, he looked familiar. It hit me, he's the dad.

"W-w-w-wa-it!" I said through my crushed throat. I reached for the picture in my jacket and pulled it out. Handing it to him before passing out.

I woke up to an unfamiliar setting. Above me was an old wooden ceiling with moss hanging down from it. I tried to sit up in an attempt to understand my surroundings. My muscles disagreed. As I forced a painful sigh out, my throat felt like it was on fire.

"I wouldn't recommend that." I heard a familiar voice say from my right.

I tried sitting up, this time with a painful success and turned to face the voice. I turned to face him, looking at him he was the same man who almost killed me. "And you do it anyway, look, kid if you're trying to play tough it doesn't work with me." He said with disappointment. I looked at his hand and in it was the picture I took. I looked back up at his face, he had blue eyes and a crooked nose. His cheeks were riddled with scars, and burn marks. One of his cheekbones was sunk in indicating it was previously broken. His lips were dry with a scar running across up from his chin to his left lower cheek.

"I'm going to straight to the point. Where did you find this, and why do you have it? Are you trying to find them? Do you get off to them? Were you paid to kill them?"

"First off, I found the picture in your house, yes I'm trying to find them, and hell no I don't. And finally no, I was paid to save them and bring them back to Purgatory." I answered with slight disgust at the second guess of his.

"Who paid you? What's Purgatory?" He asked with more excitement in his voice.

"Okay first, how long was I out. And not that I'm not grateful, but why am I not dead?"

"3 days, I have questions." He said shortly.

This conversation became very awkward. He lacks people skills, makes me question how he got a family.

"Well, I was paid by the Loud family. And Pur-" Before I could finish he cut in.

"Wait, the Louds are still alive?! Was it a girl named Luna who hired you?!" He asked obviously knowing who they are.

"Yeah, they're alive and no, Luna is one of the ones who I was hired to find. She's been missing since this whole thing started. They suspect that she's with them." I answered.

"Then who gave you the picture?"

"I found it in your house. Speaking of that, I.. uh... I found..."

"You found Anna? Was she alive?" He asked worriedly.

"There's no easy way to say this, but she was a crier. Wait did you not go back there?"

"I did, but when I did so I saw blood trailing into the kitchen, I couldn't bring myself to go in there. I'm guessing that's where you found her? And what's a crier?" He asked I could see his eyes begin to glisten from the newly formed tears.

"Yeah, the word "cabin" was written on the wall in blood, that's what set me on this path. A crier is a form of undead who don't try and eat people. I've always found them crying before something like a picture or a certain word. Such as your wife. They have bluish skin, black eyes, and elongated fingernails." As I was telling him this the tears rolled down his face, but even through the tears, he kept a stoic face. "There is something, I don't want to get your hopes up though."

"What is it? Tell me."

"As I was searching the bedrooms for clues, some zombies broke in and Anna had engaged them. I've never seen a crier do this before, I went down to her and tried to talk to her. At first, I had no luck, but when I mentioned your daughter's names and cabin she responded. Over that short time, something remarkable happened." He had stopped crying at this point and was clenching the picture into his fist.

"One of her eyes had become human. She spoke simple English and told me where to look for the cabin. Unfortunately, shortly after that she returned back to being a crier and went inside the house."

"So what does that mean?" He asked hopefully.

"Again don't get your hopes up, but it means she could possibly be brought back if she were to be reunited with her family. But we can't focus on her right now. We need to focus on finding your daughters. Do you have any idea where they might be?" I asked hoping that he might know.

"This is a lot to take in, can you give me a few moments?" He asked, gripping his fist even tighter. His tone and attitude completely different from when I first woke up.

"That's all I can spare." I nodded, looking away from him and back to my surroundings.

The walls around me were barren, old and fading. The fireplace was full of ashes and falling apart, it looks like it hasn't been lit in years, on the left and right side of the fireplace were footlockers, the floor was riddled with holes, dust, and scraps of paper, and the inside looked like it had been abandoned, had I not known better. I looked back at him just as he looked at me.

"If you don't mind my asking, what's your name?" I asked him uncertain of whether he was ready to talk.

"Mason, it's Mason, what's your real name son?" He asked, looking me in the eyes.

"It's Kaiser, now then, I need to know if you have any idea where they might have gone. The sooner we find them the better."

"I don't really know where they might have gone, I know my daughters and they would go where ever was safe. That could be a number of places. But something keeps pulling me towards Saugatuck." He pulled out a map which was marked where the cabin was, and it also showed where Saugatuck was. "I don't know why but my mind keeps telling me Saugatuck, call it a dad's intuition."

"Hold on, we're running off of "dad's intuition?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" He asked matter of factly.

"I suppose not, no," I responded sheepishly.

"Alright then, Saugatuck is a two-day hike from here. I suggest we leave real soon. Gather your gear, I stored it over in that footlocker." He pointed to the one to the right of the fireplace.

"Wait a second, if your mind kept telling you to go to Saugatuck, how come you never went?" I asked him.

"I honestly couldn't tell you. Something inside me told me to wait, or maybe it was for plo-"

I had to cut him off before he could finish breaking the 4th wall,

"I guess the universe wanted you to wait for me. Let's get going then." I hurriedly suggested.

I went over to the footlocker and retrieved my armor and weapons. He did the same, donning what looked to be military grade armor; Shoulder pads, elbow pads, arm guards, a ballistics chest piece with a collared neck guard, padded gloves, thigh padding knee pads, and snake proof boots that went up to the back of his knee. Next, he pulled a combat helmet out with a mic coming out of the left side of the earpiece. Finally, he pulled his weapons out which happens to be a very large bowie knife, a crowbar, and machete. Glad I didn't encounter him when he was fully equipped. He went over to the corner and grabbed the rifle that could have blown my brains out only 3 days ago. He packed some ammo, a few waters bottles, tossed three to me and made for the door.

"Alright kid, keep up with me, and only stop for bathroom breaks, understood?" His demeanor completely different from before.

"Understood," I responded quickly. We left the cabin and made our ways into the woods.

Transition

2 Days Later

Saugatuck, Michigan

After two days of hiking and slaying the single zombie here and there, we finally made it to Saugatuck.

"The town is full of people wielding guns looking none too friendly. There is more congregated around what looks to be a brewery. It won't hurt to go check it out." Mason had suggested.

Before we could react we heard growling behind us. We turned to see a Pitbull holding its ground before us. "Evee?" He asked.

She bowed her head slightly and stopped growling. He sat down and extended his hand. "Evee it's me, Mason, Sabrina's dad."

She slowly crept up to him, stopping just before his hand she began to sniff it. Within seconds she started wagging her tail and tackled him to the ground before licking his face. He became playful and played with her for a short time before changing his manner once more.

"Okay since shes here that mean Sabrina's close by," Mason stated, holding his hand on her head. At the sound of Sabrina's name, she pointed in the direction of the brewery. No not like Scooby doo, like a hunting hound. "Sabrina's over there girl?" That brought worry to both of us if she was in that brewery that means whoever is in charge of that operation found them.

"Mason we have to go now!" I said trying to get him to move.

"Alright kid, what's the plan?" He asked me.

"Sneak in, kill quick, rescue, and get out."

"Let's go then." We made our way down and slipped in through some busted up buildings and slowly made our way towards our target. "Evee, kill." He quietly ordered.

Evee proceeded to do so, ripping the nearest guard's throat out. With success, she returned to her master's side. Moving building to building the next target was mine. I slowly inched behind him, pulling my knife out, I placed my hand over his mouth and slit his throat, pulling him the ground and taking his weapon. A rifle of some sorts. We made a fourth away from the brewery before we heard a shout ring from the building. "PLEASE GOD NO!" At that moment Mason charged off towards the building. Firing his gun at anybody in his way, I quickly followed suit and killed any stragglers. We made it to the door to find that it was barred shut, that wasn't the case for long. Mason "spartan kicked" door opened. We burst through to see a grisly sight. 3 girls being held hostage, one in purple with a knife at her throat, a reddish brown haired girl in the same predicament and finally and girl on the ground with a knife sticking out of her.

"SABRINA!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

ACT IV

Luna's POV

I sat there watching the love of my life die before me and I couldn't do anything about it. Just then we all heard the barricaded door break open. If I didn't have a knife at my throat I would have shot my head to look at the noise. I carefully looked over and saw someone I haven't seen in a very long time. My eyes widened at his sight, Sabrina's father, and he was standing with someone I've never seen before. They stood there for only a few seconds before Mason cried out his daughter's name.

"SABRINA!" He charged the man who had stabbed his eldest daughter, the look in Mason's eyes showed that he cared about two things at this moment: killing that man, and saving his daughter, I was so entranced by the enraged father I didn't see the one who was with him aim his gun at me. I heard him shoot and soon the pressure of the knife on my throat was relieved. Within a second he fired a second time killing Liz's captor. My maternal instincts kicked in and I ran over to check on Liz.

"Liz, are you okay?"

"Daddy?" Was the only word she muttered holding a terrified look towards her dad and his victim. Mason was on top of the man beating his face in, with nothing but his bare fists. They had moved at least 5 feet away from where Sabrina laid. Wait, Sabrina! I look over at her and I see our savior ripping her shirt open, his backpack laying next to him.

"Luna, get Liz to take charge of Evee and get over here, now!" The man ordered me, I, of course, didn't know how to respond. I look back at Mason and his victims head was nothing more than a red paste, but he was still being beaten on. "Luna, now!" I heard again, this time with more authority. I bucked up and did what I had to.

"Liz, take Evee." She didn't move, she only sat there in terror at what her father was doing. I grabbed Evee whose muzzle dripped with blood, ignoring it I ordered her to Liz's side. And to my surprise and delight, she took ahold of Evee's collar. I went over to Sabrina's side where I now saw the guy placing his hands right below her breast.

"What are you doing?" I asked him confused to all hell with why he had his hands on her.

"She has a few broken ribs, and some bruising on her neck. From what I can tell her breathing is labored."

"But shouldn't we remove the knife, that should be our main concern," I suggested, figuring this guy didn't know what he was doing.

"We remove the knife and she could potentially bleed out. You never remove a foreign object from the body unless you're in a controlled setting, or it's blocking an airway. Besides, it's hard to tell whether it's penetrated a vital organ." The entire time he said this he pulled a very small oxygen tank and a face mask out from his bag. "And if our patient isn't breathing or is having trouble breathing then they could die. Not from the stab wound but from oxygen deprivation."

"So what do we do?" I asked him, hoping I could do whatever to help.

"This tank is an M9 oxygen tank if I let it flow at .63 lpm it will last for roughly six hours. That means she'll need to recover her normal airway flow between now and then." At this point, he placed what looked like a valve on the top of it. He then released a little lever, followed by the turning of a dial and then attaching a tube to a small extension of the valve.

"Okay, Sabrina I'm going to have Luna place this oxygen mask on you okay?" He turned to me handing over the tank and mask. "Luna, I need you to place that mask over her mouth and nose, and then make sure there is a seal and no air is escaping."

"What about you?" I asked hesitantly taking what he was handing me.

"I'm going to stabilize her wound. I want you to also take this." He pulled a cloth of some sorts out of his bag. "Wrap this around her breasts."

"What do you mean stabilize?" During this whole conversation, I looked back at Mason and he was now coming over to us with Liz in tow.

"Worry about what you have to do and let me worry about me, got it?"

"Y-yeah I got it."

"What's going on what happened?" Mason now over here interrogating us. "Why is she shirtless, Harbinger?!"

"Mason, I need you to stay back for a bit or help Luna with the mask. I need to stabilize the stab wound. I removed her shirt to fully access her airway. She has some broken ribs and labored breathing." All the while he pulled out more articles of clothes and some tape, preparing the wound.

"How did you learn to do this?" I asked as Mason came over to me.

"I went through first aid classes in high school. Learned CPR and basic EMT skills." He responded placing his hands around the wound. "Sabrina, this is going to hurt. Brace yourself." He immediately followed up with placing the cloth around the wound creating a small mound around the knife. Sabrina responded with a pain filled scream. The only noise she's made since she was first stabbed. To which he then placed the tape at the base and around the top where cloth met knife.

"Mason, check out whether more of them are coming." Harbinger ordered.

"Wait, you're ordering me around now?" Mason shot back, begrudgingly grabbing his rifle.

He went to the door, "We've got some inbound, I'll hold them off."

"Thanks, I'm almost finished."

"How did you know to find us. How do you know Mason?" I asked moving down to cover her breasts. I then saw there was still red marks from where we...um...had fun...he probably saw that.

"I'll answer later, right now, we've got more pressing matters on hand," he stated, scanning Sabrina's several wounds, "Let's see... Head wounds, neck trauma, bear trap around her ankle and a broken hand..." He furrows his eyebrows before getting to work, grabbing a bottle of water and more cloth out.

He starts cleaning the gash on her head as best as he can before wrapping it and moving onto stop her ear from bleeding. Next, he looked at her foot, "We have to get that trap off and clean it asap. Liz takes Luna's place and Luna comes down here."

Liz and I looked at each other, yet followed suit in silence.

"Alright, I need you to put all of your weight on that metal flap right there, I'll be doing the same on the other side. This is going to open the trap, and once it does, Liz I want you get down here and grab a hold of her mid calve and lift it as high as possible, understood?"

"Uh... y-yeah.." She nervously stuttered, making her way towards us.

He glanced up at us to make sure we were ready, Liz and I look at each other before I nod to him. He returns the favor and looks back at what he's doing, "On three. One, Two, Three!" he applied his weight, I followed his movements, and Liz lifted Sabrina's leg, once it was all done, we let up and he addressed the wound caused by the bear trap which we moved out of the way.

"Now what..?" Liz spoke up, cuddling Evee. Mason has Sabrina resting next to himaboutwas packing his unused supplies.

"We head back to my cabin," Mason decided.

"No, actually. We'll be heading to Purgatory." Harbinger cut in, zipping up his bag.

"You know, you still haven't answered my question. How'd you find us, and who are you even?" I look over at him.

"You already know me to be Harbinger, and I'm a merc who was contracted to bring you home by a white-haired boy named Lincoln Loud." He riddles it off as if it were something he did often.

"Wait, Lincoln?! They're alive?!" Relief washes over me.

"Yes, they are. That's not our concern at the moment though." He gestures over to Sabrina. I frown in concern as I look over at my girlfriend, who seems to be on the verge of blacking out, all of us silently look at her for half a second before Mason pulls her up, "Hey, don't pass out on me now!"

Harbinger urgently steps over to both of them, but Sabrina seems to slipping, We could all feel the slight panic in the room, and it was only getting worse.

-Transition-

Sabrina's POV

I lay here, confused, afraid, and in pain. I have no idea what's going on. I know enough that we're safe and somehow my dad is here. Someone else is here with us too, and I think our first interaction was him taking my shirt off. I can't remember though With pain radiating from the wound on my stomach, sleep seemed like a charming idea, maybe if I get a few minutes of rest I'll feel better. As my conscious began to fade I could feel the pain subsiding. The sweet relief was bitter I now realized. I'm going to die, and honestly, I'm okay with that. I've been living in this hell for far too long, I can hear my dad coaxing me to stay awake but his words fell silent on dead ears. This is it, this is bliss. A light began to shine at the end of the tunnel I now found myself in. I feel compelled to go towards it. I obey and my feet move on their own. With every step, I drew closer to the warm, soothing light. I guess Heaven really does exist and it's right in front of me. "Wake up love, I can't live without you. Please don't go, I love and need you." A silhouette appeared in the light with an outstretched hand. But it wasn't welcoming, it wanted me to stop. Another voice rang out through my head. "It's not your time, my child. Go, stay with your family, and stay with Luna Loud." The voice was a culmination of several voices, but all in unison and calming. "When your time comes, you will know. Now go." The light began to fade and my conscious returned.

My heart began to race, did God really just speak to me? The pain now coming in waves pulsated throughout my body, which is probably a good thing. The pain kept me from wanting to sleep this time, I finally open my eyes again to see the person they called Harbinger, I think, at my right side checking my pulses. I look up directly and see my dad who looked relieved to see me awake. I can hear Liz crying to my left, I moved my head to look at her and Evee was pressing her face into Liz's chest in an attempt to calm her down. I look over at Luna who is to the right of Liz, looking at me with a mix of hope and worry. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks, which of course made me tear up. I can't believe I was allowing myself to give up and leave her. I wept softly before looking down at my body to assess what had happened, the second thing I noticed besides the pain in my stomach was a killer headache. And I couldn't hear out of my right ear, that's just great. I saw the knife, which was now wrapped up in what looked like cloth. Just then I lifted my right hand to see that it too was wrapped up, but it felt wrong.

I looked back at Harbinger and he has since released his fingers from my throat and wrist and was talking to my dad while still looking at me. I looked back to Liz and Luna and they had stopped crying, Luna slowly made her way towards me. I felt a severe throbbing pain in my left ankle, I see a bear trap some ways behind Luna and made the connection. Now I'm worried that I can't feel anything below the ankle.

"Sabrina, can you hear me?" Luna asked me looking over me now.

"I-I'm fine hon. I'm glad to see you're okay." I replied getting misty eyes once more.

"Oh my god…" Was all she could say before breaking down again.

"Hey, we're not out of the woods yet, your dad and I decided that we need to remove the knife and seal the wound." Harbinger said sternly.

"But I thought you said we can't do that yet?" Liz asked coming over to us.

"You're right, I did, but if it had penetrated an internal organ, we would have known by now." He said pulling his bag over, and unzipping it again.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him uneasy about the situation before us. "Also, did you rip my shirt off earlier."

"Yes, and I saw the…*eh hem* marks." He said with a slight blush. Marks, what marks...oh my god! I can feel my face turn completely red before my body reminds me of the pain I'm in.

"Why would you remove my shirt?!" I ask incredulously.

"To find any wounds and to assess your airway. Don't fuss over it."

"Wait, marks? Sabrina did you and Luna…" My dad suggested before grinning. "That a girl, I knew you had it in you." I looked away and at Luna who was hiding her face in her hands.

"Can we please come back to reality and focus on the situation at hand? We should really be removing this knife." Harbinger said pulling a tube of superglue out from his bag.

"What's the superglue for?" Liz asked trying to hide the shame of seeing me and Luna in the act.

"It'll act as an adhesive to close the wound until we can properly get it stitched up." Harbinger said, looking at my wound. "Alright Mason, Luna, hold her down and comfort her."

"Wait, what?" I asked nervously.

"Take the mask off of her as well. I don't think she needs that anymore." Harbinger suggested.

"It'll be alright honey, just sit still and uh, place this in your mouth. It'll help." He hands me a wad of bandages. I place them in my mouth, which high school by Luna taking my broken hand. I wince at the pain.

"It'll be alright love, just take a deep breath and look into my eyes," Luna says looking at me now lovingly. Her beautiful eyes captured my gaze, I could get lost in them forever.

"Three, two, ONE!" I hear before the feeling the knife leave my body. Muffled screams attempt to leave my mouth as pain erupted throughout my entire body. It dies down within a few seconds when a cold towel is placed over it. "Just as we hoped. It didn't penetrate any organs, miraculously. The towel will clean the wound before I dry it." The next few minutes consisted of him rubbing the wound with a dry towel, then applying the superglue.

"What now?" I asked slowly trying to sit up.

"Lay back down, wait for it to dry. Once it does we need to leave and head towards Purgatory. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that something isn't quite right at the moment."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but let's not wait for a short shorts, red hat wearing postman to gayly run up to us screaming 'HEEEEEY!', or an immortal courier saying; 'I've been looking for you, got something I'm suppose to deliver, your hands only.'"

"But we can't all just walk, Sabrina's leg is messed up," Liz said.

"Yeah, I can't feel anything below my ankle." I chimed in.

"We'll worry about that later. For right now we need to get back." Harbinger said.

"Don't worry honey, I'll carry you back. So that means Luna will have to carry my gun and help Harbinger watch our backs." My dad said.

"Well, I guess it's a good plan as any," Luna said. The next ten-ish minutes was an awkward silence waiting for the glue to dry. Once it did we packed up and made ready to move out. I rested piggyback on my dad's back, with Harbinger in the front, Liz behind him, My dad, me and Luna behind her. With Luna right next to my dad. Harbinger opened the door and we were greeted by a horde of zombies.

"FUCK!"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:

Hi all! So first, this is just a friendly reminder if you haven't read the updated Chapter 8, I highly suggest you do so. Second I hope you enjoy this Chapter. Both my editor and I spent a lot of time on it. Let us know in the reviews how we're doing! Thank you all and see you in the next Chapter!

Chapter 11

"Lincoln, help us!" All my sisters cried out for me, begging for me to save them from the zombies. But I couldn't do anything, I was frozen in place and was being forced to watch them. We were all in a dark room, I specifically was in a glass box that couldn't be opened. All my sisters were lined up, tied to chairs, with zombies slowly coming up behind them.

"Lincoln, please! Don't let us die!" They all cried out, bringing me to tears, I couldn't even try to break out. "Lincoln!" They said before the zombies began to devour them.

"Big brother help me!" Lily cried out as her shoulder and neck were ripped apart. I attempted to shout at her but no words could escape my mouth. Watching my sisters be ripped apart, tears flowing heavily from my eyes I thought to myself, why them? Why couldn't it be me? This isn't fair!

"Lincoln wake up!" I heard a voice echo throughout my head. "Lincoln wake up, come on!" The voice said again, this time my body began to shake. The scene before me faded, and it was then I realized, it was a nightmare. Again. I slowly opened my eyes, squinting to hide them from the sunlight. "Lincoln, you were saying "don't you fucking touch her." Was it another nightmare?" Ronnie Anne asked looking at me with worried eyes.

"Yeah...yeah, it was," I said hesitantly. I shouldn't be surprised, after what happened yesterday, I was mentally distraught. Watching our Safe haven we thought that was so strong break, the people run in fear...t-that little girl. What gets to me most is she looked like she was Lily's age.

"Lincoln?" I heard Ronnie Anne say bringing me back to reality. "You were spacing out there, are you okay?"

"Honestly, no. With everything that happened yesterday my mind is so torn up that I don't know what to think." I responded looking at the ceiling, realizing that I haven't even sat up yet. I sit up and look at her before this Ronnie Anne was a tough, stoic girl who didn't take shit from anybody. Even though I knew she liked me her face never really showed it. Only at moments where she needed to. Nowadays her face always shows her love and worry for me. And now was no different. She looked on at me with worried eyes, and I now just noticed she was holding my hand. Dammit, I love this woman.

"Lincoln, do you want to talk about it?" She asked tightening her grip on my hand.

"No, that won't help. But thanks, I appreciate the concern." I smile at her, placing my other hand over hers. "I love you, Ronnie Anne." That put a blush on her face.

"I love you too Lame-o." She said smiling through her blush. The atmosphere quickly grew quiet as we looked on at each other. My heart began to race as her face came closer to mine. I slowly closed my eyes and moved closer to her-.

"AWWW!" We both heard come from behind my cracked door. My eyes snapped to the cracked open door to see all of my sisters and Bobby all trying to peeks through. Dammit. "Oh shit, he heard us. RUN!" I bolted out of bed to chase after them.

"Of course I heard you, you practically shouted!"

Ronnie Anne's POV

I watched as Lincoln took off after his sisters and my dorky brother. That boy, damn him for making me soft. I looked down at my hands and blushed. Just thinking about him, how strong and brave he is. Even in the face of certain death he holds his ground and protects those he loves. With all that happened yesterday, he still moves on, pushing it aside. I love him so much. A part of me is happy that we're here now. Together. But another part of wishes this damn apocalypse never happened. That me and him could live normal lives, but how different would it really be? Would Lori and Bobby still have had Lilith? I'm not sure, but we're here now so I guess we'll deal with it accordingly.

Lincoln's POV

After chasing my sisters around the house for quite a while, only catching Lynn, we calmed down and went to the table and sat down for breakfast.

"So kids, how was your morning...workout?" My dad asked, trying to find the right word for what happened.

"Well, Lincoln caught me, shows me he's getting better," Lynn said forcing down some eggs. "But you better believe it I'll get you next time Linc."

"Haha, sure thing Lynn." I laughed nervously. Knowing, full well what she meant...pain filled wrestling.

We continued scarfing down our food before going to our daily activities; Lori and Bobby went off to take care of a now crying Lilith, Leni and Lola went off for fashion design. Lana took Lily with her outside, Luan and Maggie left to go boost morale, Lisa went off to work on more experiments, and finally, Lynn, Ronnie Anne and I went to help the Rides with Guard recruitment.

"So Lincoln, do you think we'll find anybody good?" Lynn asked me, walking on my left side with her hands on the back of her head.

"Hopefully, we need to get our protection force back up to full strength before too long," I said looking on towards the newly repaired front gate. "You think any of who you trained will do it?"

"They might, but I wouldn't get your hopes up, they were uh...okay I guess." She said with a disappointed tone. "The weird thing is one of them likes me I think. He always comes up to me after practice and tries to talk. He acts like he knows all that about sports, which is embarrassing on his part. Besides I'm not going to like someone just because they know sports." She said now looking at the ground with a light blush.

"Hold on Lynn, are you saying you have a crush on someone?" I asked with a smug smirk.

"W-well of course I do...I'm a seventeen-year-old girl after all." She said bashfully.

"Who is it?" I asked still smirking.

"Yeah who Lynn. Don't worry, we won't tell." Ronnie Anne said, who was walking on my right side.

"U-um well, his name i-is-" Before she could finish Clyde ran up to greet us.

"Hey guys!" He said just as cheerful as he's always been. I glanced at Lynn who quietly looked him on...wait a second.

"Hey Clyde, how's it going?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Pretty good, just on my way to see how everyone is doing. Make sure no one needs any first aid or someone to talk to," He waved, smiling, "Welp, I'm off to it. Catch you guys later!" And with that, he went to a building behind us. We kept on walking, and once we left hearing distance of Clyde I decided to interrogate Lynn.

"So Lynn, what was that?" I asked returning the smirk to my face.

"What do you mean?" She asked nervously.

"Well we were just talking about your crush and then Clyde came up and you looked..shy. You're never shy."

"W-what do you mean?!" She asked frantically, looking around.

"I mean, you have a crush on Clyde don't you?" I asked assumingly.

"Wait, Clyde? Seriously?" Ronnie Anne asked looking surprised.

"Dammit Lincoln!" Lynn shouted before tackling me to the ground. The entire time we wrestled about her face was completely red. I pushed her off and held her down.

"So you do, don't you?" I asked trying desperately to keep her from getting up.

"Y-yeah I do, is that a crime?" She did something with her legs and completely reversed our positions.

"No, I suppose it's not, but now I'm curious. Why are you crushing on him?" She was sitting me with her restraining my arms to the ground. Try as I might she has the upper hand on me.

"Why should I tell you?" She asked holding me even tighter.

"Because he's my best friend, and you're my big sister," I stated still struggling to be released.

"F-fine, but if you tell I swear Lincoln I pummel you!" She said with squinted eye, releasing me and helping me up.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him." I may or may not tell him in secret. "So, why do you like him, Lynn?" We continued on towards the gate.

"Well for starters he's super kind, and he always asks me how I'm doing. He takes time out his day to make sure I'm okay if he thinks I look upset. He's super cute. And even though he's two years younger than I am, I'm not bothered by it. Is that creepy?" She asked still blushing.

"Only slightly." It's weird to hear that she has a crush on him, but I'm glad. If she ever tells him, then he can get his mind off of Lori. We've talked about his crush on Lori several thousand times and on some occasions, I would ask him about my other sisters. Lynn always came up after Lori. He would mention Leni and Luan every now and then, which wasn't any less disturbing. But he always said Lynn seemed like a cool girl to hang out with. Yeah, if you like constant wrestling and...dutch ovens. "But I think that's pretty cool Lynn. And out of everyone here, I'm glad that crush is Clyde."

"Yeah, so uh can we forget about this and move on? This mushy talking is giving me a stomach ache." She asked with the blush finally leaving her face.

"Haha sure thing Lynn." The rest of the walk there was pretty quiet. To be honest it wasn't that much of a walk either. It was another five minutes before we arrived. We came upon a scene where Father Ride was pacing back and forth on a stage in front of a formation of young greenhorns. As we got closer we could see a crudely painted banner saying 'Welcome to Guardsmenshi-' It was cut off by the end of the cloth it was painted on. A few of the newbs looked at us causing Father Ride to do the same.

"It's about time you showed up haha! I choose the new recruits for ya!" He bellowed, motioning for us to come over. We came upon the stage and looked on towards the formation. "I'm sure you know who these two are. They're Louds. And they're going to give you a demonstration." Wait, a what now? "Lynn Jr. please show them how to wrestle someone to the ground."

"Gladly!" She smiled, rubbing her hands together, all while giving me "the look". Not this shit aga-.

Before I could complete the thought, she threw me into a wrestling match, with her on the top the whole time. She didn't even give me a chance. After our demonstration, we explained what the greenhorn's jobs would be, and a rough rundown of how to their jobs before turning them over to Coach Pacowski. They were trained rigorously until sunset. By that time, they could barely stand on their own two feet.

We thanked Father Ride for taking initiative and recruiting them before leaving. Clyde, who we noticed was watching us, joined up with us on the way back to the house.

"That was awesome Lynn! How are you feeling Lincoln?" He asked with a concerned face.

"Thanks Clyde!" Lynn responded, she was hiding the fact she had a crush on him very well.

"I feel terrible, I didn't know my legs could bend that way." I sighed, rubbing the back of legs. He just kinda laughed lamely, which made the atmosphere around us awkward. I looked back at Lynn and saw that she was buckling under the pressure. Come to think of it, I never saw her act this way around him before. Which makes me wonder if this is a newfound crush, or after confessing to someone about it, it's finally bothering her. The man with the plan has a plan.

"Hey, Lynn, Clyde. Ronnie Anne and I have to go do...uh something. We'll let you two be." I said tugging on Ronnie Anne's hand.

"Wait, we do?" She asked confused.

"Yup! Let's go!" I pulled at her and took off towards the house.

Lynn's POV

Lincoln, please don't go, dammit. He did that on purpose. Oh god what am I going to do? Okay, Lynn calm down, you're you for christ's sake. Don't even think about it, just walk back home.

"Lynn, you okay?" I heard come from Clyde who was now next to me. He was looking at me with those big, curious, beautiful brown eyes of his. Dammit all!

"I'm good, what about you?" Making small talk, hoping that he wouldn't press the matter.

"Are you sure? You're looking kind of down. Anything you wanna talk about?" He asked, staring at me with that handsome freckled face of his. Oh god, Lynn, you're not helping yourself!

"Y-yeah I'm o-okay." I could feel myself faltering under the pressure.

"I don't believe you, something's up. Come on over to my house and we'll talk about it." He said now smiling, reaching for my hand. Oh, my god, Lynn calm down! "Lynn you're turning red." He stated oblivious to me showing feelings. His house? Why would this time be any different, I've been to his house before. I've got this. I let him take my hand, which my heart began to race. We walked back to his house, where we found his father's sitting at the table talking to each other. "Hey, dads, I brought Lynn over, is that okay?"

"Of course it is Clyde. Lynn dear, would you like some dinner while you're here?" Howard asked me. Now that I thought about I am pretty hungry, and I probably won't be home for a while.

"If possible I would appreciate it. As long as it won't affect your food storage's negatively."

"Don't you worry about that, Harold and I will start right away. Won't we Hare-bear?" Howard asked his husband.

"Of course we will. Dinner will be done in about 30 minutes." Harold said.

"Thanks dad, thanks dad. Come on Lynn, lets head to my room." My face became hotter than the sun in the middle of July. His room, I've never been in another boy's room beside Lincoln's. Okay, take a deep breath, stay cool, calm, and collected. We went to his room which was at the end of a hall. We went in and I expected to see a bunch of Ace Savvy stuff like my brothers. But his room was, nice and clean, and organized. "You can sit down on my bed, don't be shy." He said smiling at me. I sat down on his bed and look around his room, it was relatively plain with pictures of him and Lincoln here and there. "Here, let me take your jacket. Sorry, I should have taken it at the door." Wait, my jacket? Lynn Loud calm yourself, it is a jacket. It's okay you have a sleeveless shirt on underneath.

"U-uh sure, here you go."

Clyde's POV

Lynn handed me her jacket, revealing the sleeveless shirt underneath. Her arms were sculpted and way more defined than mine. I looked back at her and smiled and noticed that her face was completely red. That's odd. I left my room to put her jacket on our coat rack by the door in the living room.

"Man, something seems to be bothering her. Lincoln saw that too, and he knew I would be able to help her. He's such a good brother." I spoke to myself as I hung it up. I looked into the kitchen and saw my dad's moving around making the dinner. I'm happy to see that this hell hasn't changed them. Hmm, maybe I can get whatever's wrong out of her through personal connection. We've always seen eye to eye before so this shouldn't be hard. I return to my room to see that she's found my picture of Lori. I'm going to be honest here. I still love Lori, but I've actually accepted the fact that she has a family with Bobby and that I need to move on. "Oh, haha you found that. I've been meaning to throw it away for a while now." I chuckled awkwardly.

"Wait, you, throw away a picture of Lori, are you okay?" She asked, looking at me a with a confused look.

"Yeah...she has a daughter now. I've learned to move on." I said, rubbing the back of my head. She placed the picture back where she found it and went awkwardly silent again. Okay time to use my skills to help Lynn! We talked for a while, I continued to ask her the same question, only worded differently. She always avoided it though, I put that subject on hold for the time being. We moved on and talk about recent events and what we think about the new guards. She seems to be loosening up, her shoulders no longer look tense and her form is relaxed. I think it's time to ask that question again.

"So Lynn, we've been talking for a while now and you seem to be warmed up to me. Whats wrong? You've been acting strange all day. I'm worried about you." I said showing her my heart. "I want to help you be your old self again." She looked at me before moving her eyes down to her knees. Her fists clenched and she became red, I think I got it. It looks like she's about to give me the answers I've been looking for.

"C-Clyde...I…" Her voice trailed off, almost there Lynn.

"It's okay Lynn, don't be nervous." I smiled back at her, taking her hands in mine.

She takes a deep breath," Clyde...I...have a crush on you."

Lincoln's POV

It's been almost five hours since they've been gone. I hope they're okay. I had just helped put Lilith to bed, leaving Lori and Bobby's room I went to go check on all my sisters personally. The next room would be Luan and Maggie's, only the door is shut and I know better than to knock. I went into Lucy's room and sat down on Lynn's bed.

"Hey Lucy, how's it going?" Lucy's twelve now but hasn't really changed, she's still her spooky self.

"Hey Lincoln, I'm okay I guess, trying to figure out a new location for a graveyard. We may have to expand soon." She said in her typical monotone voice.

"Yeah, good luck convincing mom and dad to do that." I laughed lamely.

"Do you know where Lynn is? It's not like I miss her or anything, I'm just wondering." Uh-huh Lucy, whatever you say, you know you love us all.

"Naw, I saw her running off somewhere with Clyde, but I'm not too sure," I responded, careful not to spill the beans.

"Clyde, huh? Okay." The short reply was my cue to leave her alone. Whenever she responds with one or two words, she wants her privacy back.

I left her room and went over to Lola, Lana, and Leni's room. I go in to find Lola and Leni having a tea party. As well Lana sitting on her bed reading an automotives book.

"Hey girls, hows it going?" I asked sitting down next to Leni.

"Hey Linky!" Both Lola and Leni asked in unison.

"Hey bro!" Lana said Looking up from her book for a moment. It was then I noticed she had a frog sitting between her arms... that girl.

"Want some tea, Linky?" Lola asked me sweetly.

"I would love some," I replied smiling at her. Nowadays her tea parties consist of actual tea. Which is nice because I could use the calming taste of tea every now and then.

I stayed and we all chatted for a bit 'til I ran out of tea. After that, I decided that it was time to leave and check on Lisa and Lily. I go into their room to find Lisa writing something down in a binder and Lily was playing with her doll.

"Big brother!" Lily shouted when she saw me, running up and giving me her bear hug. This pure little cinnamon roll is the reason I keep my skills honed.

I chuckle, smiling, "Hey Lily!" I ruffle her hair. She grins up at me and smiles.

"Hello brother, what brings you to our area of dwelling?" Lisa asked me, not taking her eyes off the binder.

"Just checking on you and making sure everything's alright," I replied putting Lily down.

"Considering the world around us, everything is fine. How are you doing, Lincoln?" She asked, this time looking back at me. We've been working on her people skills and she's doing fairly well.

"I'm good Lisa, just waiting for Lynn to get home," I replied smiling at her.

"Ah I see, so she has not returned yet, that is worrisome, perhaps someone should go look for her." She suggested. Just then we heard the front door open a voice shout out. "Guys I'm home!"

"I think that's her, I'll go check it out. Love ya, Lisa!" Before leaving the room I poked Lily's nose and headed out the door.

"As do I eldest brother." I heard Lisa say, like I said, fairly well. I went down the stairs to see a smiling Lynn taking her jacket off.

"Hey Lynn, how'd it go?" I asked coming up to her. Also if you're wondering where Ronnie Anne is, she's taking a shower.

"Me and Clyde are going on a date tomorrow evening.

"A DATE?!" We both heard come from all our sisters, which came rushing down, save Lisa and Lucy who came down slowly.

"Wait, you have a date with Clyde?" Luan asked, what? You thought her and Maggie were doing something dirty? No, see when the door is closed she is usually working on a new comedy routine for the family. And only Maggie is allowed to see beforehand.

"Yeah, I was just over at his house, and I confessed my feelings for him…" Her voice trailed off, blush taking over her freckled cheeks.

"It was only a matter of time," Lucy added in.

"Wait you knew about it?" I asked her accusingly.

"Of course I knew about, we're roommates." She said in her typical fashion.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," I replied feeling defeated and a bit disappointed. I thought I was the first she told.

"So does that mean he won't go crazy over me anymore?" Lori asked excitedly.

By this point, our parents had come out as well, "What's going on?"

"Lynn's got a boyfriend!" Lana shouted out.

"Wait, a boyfriend? Who?" Our dad asked rubbing his eyes, most likely waking them up with the noise.

"Yeah, who's the lucky guy?" Mom groggily chimed in, excited nonetheless.

"Guys, guys please, let me speak," Lynn said rubbing the back of her head.

"Right, sorry go ahead," I said, letting her speak.

"First, yes I told Lucy, she was the first and Lincoln was the second, and Ronnie Anne third since she was there with us. Second, yes Lori, he shouldn't go crazy around you anymore. Third, he's not my boyfriend yet. And thanks mom, thanks dad." She said answering all of our questions.

Lily ran up and jumped into Lynn's arms. "That's so cool big sis, Clyde is a super nice person!" Lily said being adorable as ever.

"Yeah he is Lilster!" Lynn said as she nuzzled her nose on Lily's, causing an adorable giggle.

"Well don't hold any details back, tell us all about it!" Leni said jumping up and down with glee. We all sat down around the main couch and listened to her talk about her day with Clyde over at his house. We talked for hours on end, Ronnie Anne came down and listened about five minutes in. After Lynn had finished, we had to carry, Lola, Lana and Lily to their beds since they passed out halfway through. Once we got them to their beds I told all of my sister's goodnight. I retired to my room for the night. Today was a good day, besides getting my ass kicked by Lynn. I made it to my room and found Ronnie Anne reading one of my Ace Savvy comics.

"Hey," I said sitting down on my bed.

"Oh, hey Lincoln. Got bored waiting for you so I decided to do some reading." She replied putting the comic down.

"Yeah, just had to put my sisters to bed. But I'm super tired." I said laying my head down on my pillow. "After getting my ass handed to me by Lynn I'm so exhausted."

"Then you should get some sleep Lame-o." She said laying down next to me. "But first, let's finish what we started this morning."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Harbinger's POV

Well, this is my life now! Dodging bullets, raiders, and zombies! This couldn't possibly get any worse, could it? It went from a simple search and rescue contract from Lincoln Loud to a crier leading me to a cabin where I nearly died, to an almost wild goose chase to finding Luna and Sabrina nearly beaten to all hell by a group of raiders, no less. Now here we are, two days later, getting shot, by the same group of raiders. I just want this damn contract to be over! Hell, I might retire after this! Fuck this. Fuck all of this. And fuck them too! N-not the people I'm protecting, t-the people we're fighting...you get what I'm saying dammit!

"Harbinger! Watch out!" I heard Mason shouting to me over the erratic gunfire. I quickly turned and saw two men running at me with what looked like spiked bats. Negan wannabes. I put them down swiftly hitting their center mass. To answer my earlier question, yes this can get worse. Because I'm also down to my last clip. This isn't a video game where you magically find ammo in a bush, or a trash can all hunky-dory like. You take what you find off of dead bodies and hope it's what you use.

"Mason, where are the girls?" I let my mind shift from that thought.

"Over there!" He pointed to a small defilade about fifty feet away. After quickly scanning the area, I find it's immediate surroundings to be satisfactory I return my attention to Mason.

"Hey, I'm down to my last clip, what's the game plan?" I'm hoping he has something ready.

"We lure them into a trap." Wait, what?

"Run that by me one more time." I glanced back and saw the two I killed earlier rise as undead. Once dead the body reanimates within a matter of minutes. I quickly put them down for the second time before hearing a response from Mason.

"I said we lure them into a trap. Simple as that."

"With what? We don't have much in the way of traps around us."

"We use the environment!" He stated matter of factly.

"This isn't Endor and we aren't murderous teddy bears. Besides we don't exactly have time on our side, look at the sky." What the hell is he smoking, use the environment? jesus.

"Then what do you suggest wise ass?" He asked in response.

"We leave, and find a place to bunker down for the night and pray they don't find us," I suggested, which let's be honest, my idea is way better and more practical. Again this isn't a video game where we throw sticks and leaves together to form a perfect working trap.

"Then let's grab the girls and go, you'll carry Sabrina this time and I'll watch our backs." He suggested. "But you better be careful with her or else!"

"Yes, sir!" Even though this is my op, he has the say about what happens with his daughters. Which I was forced to agree to. The man could kill me with just a look if he wanted too. We ran over to where they were, still dodging gunfire mind you. These assholes are worse than Stormtroopers.

"Come on girls lets go," Mason said helping Liz and Luna up. I pulled Sabrina onto my back and we took off towards an opening in the woods."DUCK!" It hasn't even been ten seconds before we heard Mason shout from behind us and as soon as we did bullets came flying overhead. But as quickly as they came they stopped. Soon all the gunfire stopped. I stood up slowly and saw that Mason had put the last of them down. For once the raiders were no longer following us. "Anybody hurt?" He asked turning back around to face us.

"Nope," Liz said patting herself down.

"I'm good," Luna replied doing the same as Liz.

"Same here dad," Sabrina said from behind me.

"Nope still only have the holes I was born with," I replied not bothering to check.

"Good, then let's go." We continued on for a few minutes before coming upon an interstate that looked as if it went on for miles.

"Where to now?" Luna asked keeping an eye out for possible danger. I'll admit it, I have no clue where the hell we are.

"Mason, any ideas?" I hope to god he knows this area well enough.

"Yeah, see those mountains over there?" He pointed to a small mountain range to the north of us. "That's where my cabin is. If we can make it there, you can backtrack and lead us to this so-called purgatory." Mason said keeping his sight targeted on the wooded area on the other side of the road.

"I'm guessing it'll be a while before we get back to those mountains though," I asked, knowing full well it would.

"Yeah, about two days, maybe two and half days. Two if we leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow." He replied.

"Guys we should probably get moving, Evee is picking some movement up in the trees," Liz suggested slowly backing towards us.

"I agree, also this isn't the most comfortable traveling arrangement," Sabrina said with a more than annoyed tone. I agree having someone ride piggyback isn't as pleasant as most think it would be.

"You're right, but where are we gonna go dudes and dudettes?" Luna asked again.

"There should be a service station roughly a mile to the west if we're where I think we are," Mason said.

"Let's get a move on then." I so much didn't mind the walking, but with Sabrina on my back, the added weight was not welcome. Thankfully we didn't have to walk far. Whether it was a mile or not we made it to the service station within 30 minutes, and just in time too. The sunlight was nearly gone. The station looked like a typical gas station you'd stop at for fuel and nothing else. Maybe a high priced souvenir but that's it. The sign and marquee had fallen into the parking lot, the cars that were here looked abandoned since day one. The pumps were in shit shape or completely gone, the only promising thing about this place was that the windows were boarded up with painted signs saying "Survivors welcome!" and "We have Supplies!" Obviously a trap, and on the extreme off chance it isn't, these fucks are stupid. Advertising to all the worthless scum practically saying "FREE STUFF!" Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of taking our time, we need to get in there now. Mason and I looked at each other with understanding looks before moving in.

"Okay girls, stay close, stay quiet. Harbinger will take the lead and I'll cover the rear. "Understood?" Mason asked while instructing Liz and Luna.

"Understood, daddy!"

"You got it, pops!" We came upon what looked like the entrance, a fortified entrance to be specific.

At first sight, it didn't look very promising. Along with a reinforced metal door, bent, full of holes, and completely unhinged, the wooden gates off to the side were splintering. Some were even straight up broken. Bullet casings and a few blood spatters, implying that a someone or multiple people have been shot here. There's multiple blood trails, and some visible footprints leading into the place, and we had to pick this place of all places. The people here looked to have made it inside. Let's just hope they ended up dying. With that in mind, I cautiously approach the door in hopes of removing it. Once I grab on I find it to be lighter than most metal doors, I quietly lay it down on the left side of the entrance as to not alerting any potential threats... I return to the front of the group and move inside to the next door. Or doors I should say. A set of reinforced glass doors rested shut before me. Even being automatic they have to be manually opened, seems that the backup generator died. I wonder if it's possible to restart it. I look back to the rest of the group and silently nod as to affirm my next action. With their guns at the ready, I slowly open the doors to find a gruesome sight. Mutilated bodies, severed limbs, rotting organs with dried blood spatters painted all over the walls, floor, and even ceiling. It was a gruesome sight, an all-out massacre if I'm being honest. I don't think anyone made it out alive, and what's worse is that most of them are zombies.

This almost looked like a feeding grounds now, fresh blood on top of the darker, almost caked layer of blood. The ones who weren't zombies had their chests ripped open with their intestines laying on the open floor. Shredded arms and legs are strewn in every which direction, having been ripped off of their bodies. The mere stench made me vomit, which didn't bode well for Sabrina, who ended throwing up as well, having it fly right past my face, and Liz, who was behind Luna. Between the blood and the body parts, I never once saw a gun or ammo for that matter, which also concerned me, considering we could use some. Raiders could've also looted the weapons, which may also mean fewer zombies, even still, I'm wary.

Luna's POV

This was a terrible idea, yeah let's go into a building which looked fucked up, to begin with, to surprise! Finding dead bodies everywhere and still go through. It just has to be close to night, doesn't it? And then we split up? Genius idea. Yeah, sorry I know I'm usually more laid back, and almost never use foul language but I'm tired, grouchy and sore. I haven't slept for two days, my girlfriend still has trouble walking and I've been constantly shot at. Ugh! I just wanna rest! Not to mention, I haven't been able to properly jam since we left that one stronghold a year ago. Well by left I mean they kicked us out for that reason. Assholes. Can't understand good music.

Harbinger and I are walking down the first "aisle" so to speak, to our left were small shelves with magazines and candy, to our right larger shelves with chips and trail mix. Sabrina would look back at me every few seconds to make sure I was fine. Have I ever mentioned how beautiful and gorgeous and amazing she is? I hate to see her like this, for four years we, her sister, and Evee survived out here. And now she has to be carried and is being carried by Harbinger of all people. I'm not sure how I feel about him though, I'm grateful that he saved my loves life and protected us. Not to mention he's on a contract from my family. Which is where I'm concerned, is he just going to up and leave when we get back or will he stay? I guess if he were to leave I wouldn't be bothered by it at all, I'll be happy to be with my family again. Me, Sabrina, Liz, Mason, and Evee reunited with my long lost family. The mere thought of it excites me. I wonder how Lily has grown since then, how they've all grown. I quickly come back to reality after smacking into Sabrina. Harbinger was turning the corner when my face met the back of my girlfriends head.

"Daydreaming again, babe?" she teased, her laugh muffled.

"Haha, yeah.." I let out an embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of my neck."

"Hey, lovebirds, quiet down, please." Harbinger shushed us. We turned at the back wall which was where all the refrigerated items were. Harbinger looks at me and directs me forward, he slowly walks forward keeping his gun at the ready. I take a step and immediately feel a sharp burning pain shoot up from my right ankle all the way to my hip, I quietly yelp before I look down to see my worst nightmare. I saw my worst nightmare of a zombie biting me become a reality. I No, no, no! Not this! Why me?! Why now?! This isn't fair! I thought to myself, tears welling in my eyes as I look back up, "Help me!" I croaked.

Harbinger's POV

Oh no, don't tell me… I looked back and saw an undead fuck biting Luna.

"LUNA!" Sabrina cried out, jumping off of my back. She quickly made her way to Luna and shoved her knife straight into the zombies head. Unfortunately, Luna's plea for help and Sabrina's "war cry" woke the rest of the undead, about sevenish more rose and began their way over. Mason quickly charged through, Liz in one hand and his knife in the other killing the fuckers. Once they were all dispatched he came over and saw what had happened.

"How could you let this happen?!" He accused me, a resting rage simmering in his eyes.

"I- look, I didn't know it was still alive, had I known I would've killed it." I quickly replied in self-defense.

"Well, a lot of good that'll do. My daughters been bitten, I outta fuckin' kill you!" He shouted in pure rage, knife poised and pointed straight at me with full intent to kill.

"Dad please, I'm just as mad as you are but let's not blame Harbinger," Sabrina spoke out trying to quell the flames her dad was spewing.

"But-" He tried to say.

"No buts, that's enough, we don't need this group fighting right now. I need you to fortify the entrance, Harbinger, you, Liz and Evee make sure everything else is dead. Got it?" She asked with a tone similar to my mother.

"Yes, ma'am!" I said and quickly took Liz's hand and began checking the bodies.

Sabrina's POV

"Luna?" I worriedly looked at her, "How bad does it hurt?"

Her face said it all, "Bad love," She manages through clenched teeth. "It burns really bad." It's only going to get worse from here, and we both know it. Nowadays, it'll only take about 3 hours for someone to turn. Over the three hours, the pain only gets worse. Way worse, and the body seems to deteriorate faster in that time too: skin becomes gray and flaky, whites of eyes turn a yellowish tint, and teeth begin to rot and fall out. Fingernails either fall out or turn brown and chip, appendages turn black and will somewhat wither. T- that won't happen to Luna though, she won't turn. She can't turn, I need her here, with me...

"Love... What are you thinking?" She piped up, pain written in her eyes and voice. God, I hate seeing her like this, it breaks my heart. "That you won't turn, that you'll be fine..."

Harbinger's POV

10 Minutes Later

Liz and I continued to check the bodies, making sure to be careful so we aren't bitten as well. My head is racing though. What am I going to tell her family now that she's been bitten? She'll turn within the next three hours... No. I can't let that happen. I have to try and convince Mason and Sabrina to let me kill her. I don't want to, but I doubt anyone wants to see her as a zombie.

"Another one," Liz stated, ramming her knife into its head.

"I think that's the last one. Come on, let's get back to Luna," I said vacantly.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" She was worried. I couldn't bring myself to answer, so the short walk back was quiet. When we got there, Mason was already kneeling next to Luna. I had better make the suggestion now and get it out of the way, "Luna needs to die.

 **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the small wait. I took a break over the holiday. Had a seasonal job that needed me and just wanted to spend time with my family. An, way as some may have known I was working on something special. It was going to be a Loud House Christmas special. But both my editor and I weren't happy with how it was coming out. In the future, I may write another one but for now, its being put off. I'm going to resume regular updates for this story though. Enjoy!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:**

 **First and foremost I would like to apologize for the extended wait. My editors computer went down and needed repairs last week, so she wasn't able to look at the chapter until just yesterday. Speaking of this chapter, congratulations! We've made it to the climax! I'm so happy to see the story come this far and still get many views. It's thanks to all of you! This chapter was a culmination of 3 different authors. Myself, my editor, and the author of the other story on my page. I highly recommend checking it out if youintoto anime, Girls und Panzer, or historical war machines. Now then, I hope you enjoy the chapter! See you next time!**

Chapter 13

Sabrina's POV

"W-what did you just say...?" Did I just hear him right?

"Look, this isn't easy for me either, but Luna needs to die," he said with relative ease.

My heart sank at his harsh words as reality set in...no...NO! I came back after speaking to god, he told me to be with Luna, she can't leave. Not yet! That isn't his plan!

"Hold on, you saved us and now you want to kill me?" Luna asked accusingly.

"No one here wants to see you become a zombie. I'll just tell your family what happened and that I failed." He replied with monotone words.

"No one's killing anyone just yet, so don't think for a minute that I'll let you get near her!" My dad said with a defensive ferocity, moving in between us and Harbinger.

"Yeah, Luna isn't going to turn." Liz chimed in.

"Okay fine, let's say we leave her alive, 3 or so hours pass and all of the sudden she passes out. Then she wakes back up and tears Sabrina's throat out. Do you really want that?" But that won't happen, she'll be fine.

"Then what, you'll tell my family that you failed to protect only me, killed me before I get a chance to say goodbye and then leave. You'll just take your money and leave won't you?!" What does she mean, before she says goodbye?

"That's exactly what I'll tell them. At least they'll have Sabrina, Liz, Mason, and Evee."

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO CALLOUS?!" Her voice cracked as she teared up.

"All she wants is to see her family again. That's it. And you want to strip that from her?" I said trying to hold my own tears back.

"Look, I'm heartless and cruel, but I don't want to kill her. I always try to accomplish my contracts." He said without a care in the world. Throughout the argument I could see my dad losing his anger, replacing it with remorse. What is he thinking? And my sister looked confused, it seems that Harbinger was convincing her. I swear when this is all said and done I need to have a talk with her.

"Is that all we are to you, just a contract?"

"You seem to have this notion that I care about you. No, I only care about fulfilling my contract and, getting my money." His hand slowly moved to his firearm resting on the floor next to him.

"You are th-" Before I could finish my sentence my father cut me off.

Mason sighs, "As much as I hate to admit this, he's got a point," he mentioned in defeat, "I don't think anyone here wants to see Luna as a zombie. Especially not you, sweetheart."

"Sabrina, I'm with dad on this one, I love Luna and I don't wanna see her turn. Please don't fight us on this." Her eyes were filled with pain and sorrow.

"NO! You guys aren't coming anywhere near her!" Now even my family is agreeing with this jackass, what the hell?!

"I don't wanna die, b-but I've been bitten. Look don't kill me yet. Let me spend these last 3 hours with Sabrina. You can put a bullet in my head once I actually die." Luna said through her pain filled tears. I looked back at her in disbelief, please not you too.

"B-babe, what are you saying?" I cried out, tears bursting from my eyes.

"Enough of this, we can't risk you turning, I'm sorry, but it needs to happen now. My contract, my rules." Harbinger said pulling his firearm up to Luna's eye level. The end of the barrel was only a few inches away from her face. His eyes were void of all character, at this moment he was just a mindless killer ready to take his next victim. I look at my father and Liz who's just sitting there waiting for inevitable. I have to do something!

Luna's POV

I can't believe this is happening. All my life, everything I've done has led up to this. This exact moment where I die. My family will never know what really happened to me. I'll never get to see them again, Lori, Leni, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa, Lily, mom, and dad. I look at Sabrina, my eyes swell with tears, I can feel my heart begin to race and try to burst out of my chest. Instead of looking back at me she keeps her eyes set on Harbinger.

Before I get a chance to say anything she blows a short whistle and using her good leg bursts from the ground and grabs the gun. Without giving him a break to try and fight Evee jumps onto his back and bites into his shoulder. He screams out in pain releasing the rifle, he attempts to grab at Evee but only makes the situation worse, with no weapon he has no way of protecting himself. Sabrina neglects to use it and tackles him to the floor, proceeding to hit him wherever she could.

"That's enough! Evee, down! Sabrina, get off of him!" Mason shouted wrapping his arms around her and pulling her off. As she struggled to get free Evee obeyed and came over to me. Liz was holding his rifle but looked scared for what was going on. Out of all of us, she seemed to be the only one who liked him. I can't fathom why though. Harbinger slowly stood up, holding his shoulder he glared at Sabrina before Mason spoke up once more.

"Harbinger, if you value your life, I suggest you sit your ass at the opposite end of the room. And don't come over here until called!" Mason's voice boomed and Harbinger complied. He quickly went for the opposite end, I assume. Sitting down, my vision is limited by all the shelves. Through all of this, I was ignoring the burning that was quickly consuming my body. Its bearable except the actual bite wound. With every passing minute the pain grew, my legs are so weak I can barely move them. I feel so thirsty, and it hasn't hasn't been an hour yet. Why me? Why couldn't it have been Harbinger? I've fought for so long and stayed strong for Sabrina, and so that I could see my family once more. Yet here I am, slowly turning into a zombie. The very thing that has torn this world apart. I'm so sorry, to my family and my girlfriend, this isn't what I had planned.

Sabrina's POV

"Why did you stop me?!" I shouted at my dad, had he not intervened I could have killed him. "That stupid bastard needs to die. And why are you on his side anyway?! Luna isn't going to turn!"

"Sweetie listen. I told you already, I love Luna as much as you and Liz, but its plain as day, she's going to turn." He sympathetically said, grabbing my hands, which I quickly pulled away. "I don't want to see her as a zombie. I want to remember her as Luna Loud, the beautiful young woman who choose you to be her soul mate."

"I keep telling you she won't turn, she won't!" I'm right, she isn't like everyone else. She's different!

"Sabrina, look at me," He paused, grabbing my face ever so gently. "I love you, Luna, and your sister so much. The way shes treated you two have made me so happy. Happy that you still have someone in your life. But she isn't going to last much longer. Don't you want her to pass happy and as a living human? Painless and still loving you?" His words struck me deep, I could feel my eyes swell with tears. "I-I never got to see your mother after this started. But I knew her and loved her when she was human. I think if I were to see her as a zombie I would break. Think about how you'll feel when Luna turns." H-he's wrong she won't turn. I quickly pull my face away and go over to Luna, burying my face in her chest and wrapping my arms around her neck, I began to bawl my eyes out.

"You're wrong! S-she won't turn, right Luna?" I look up at her, she looked so sad, and I could see the tears falling out of her eyes. I felt her hand on the back of head as she pushed me back into her chest.

"Shh Love, it'll be okay. I won't turn." Her words were as sweet as honey, calming me down I felt her hand rubbing my head, her fingers entangling in my hair. What she did next melted my heart. She kissed the top of my head and whispered. "I love you, Sabrina, I love you so much." I looked back up at her and moved to kiss her tantalizing lips. As soon as our lips locked all my worries went away and my mind went blank, she won't turn I know she won't.

Liz's POV

I sit here watching my sister and Luna love each on other, and watching it hurts so bad. I know what will happen to Luna, and I'm with dad on this one. I don't want to see her turn. Why does Sabrina have to be so stupid? Why can't she see what's going to happen?

"Daddy, what are we going to do?" I quietly whispered to him. He always knows how to handle situations like this.

"I'm not too sure honey. But there is something I want to ask you." He looked at, whispering back. "I need you to go talk to Harbinger." As the name left his lips Evee quietly growled. "Find out the whereabouts of Purgatory. He can't be the only one in the group who knows."

"Why me? Why not you?" Seriously? Why do I need to talk to him, he scares me.

"Because your the only one who wasn't opposing him, or siding with him. You've stayed neutral in this recent event, well somewhat. He may trust you more than he trusts me." He said giving me a reassuring smile.

"I can try, but what do you want me to say?" I've never done something like this, try to pry information from someone.

"Just be friendly, talk to him about what's currently happening. Show him you're on his side, and once you get what we need, stay over there and talk some more, prove that you weren't just there for information." He sounded so confident, he's probably done this before, many times. "Also where is your funny humor? You use to make silly puns and funny jokes." It's true, and I can't even remember the last time I made a pun or cracked a joke. This whole thing has stripped me of my sense of humor. When I see Luan again, I hope she can help me get it back. And then all the clothing designs I can do with Leni. Thinking about being with them gives me hope, and the confidence I need to do what's tasked to me.

"Daddy, everything that's happened has taken what I use to be, and made me what I am now." As I said that I could see his eyes fill with sorrow. "But the thought of being with my friends again, Leni and Luan, I have renewed hope. Don't worry dad! I'll get what we need!"

"Good, here take this map and use it to have him show us where Purgatory is at. I'll mark our location on the map." He used some fresh blood from the recent fight and made a dot on the map with his finger. That alone made me want to gag. "Now, be careful when talking to him, if he tries anything, shout for me okay?"

"T-thanks, dad. And yeah, I will. Don't worry." I hold the map by the corner as to avoid the nasty blood spot. He smiles at me, giving me the okay to go speak with Harbinger. I look back at Sabrina and Luna, who are now sitting together, and talking, but I can see the pain through Luna's smile. I wish I could have fixed this, stopped her from getting bit. We wouldn't be in this mess if that was the case. What's done is done, for now, mission impossible is on. Pry the location of Purgatory out of Harbinger. I take a deep breath and make my way towards him. My small burst of confidence quickly faded as I closed distance with him. My heart felt like it was about to burst from my chest, a tightness growing inside of me. What am I going to say to him? Do I just say hi? Do I get to the point and ask him? Turns out none of those were relevant, I make to where he's sitting to find him shirtless and tending to his wound. I-I- uh wow. I've never seen a shirtless guy, besides zombies and my dad. He had already cleaned the blood, which let his chest show. He was certainly built and...uh...oh wow. He looks really, really good. He looked up at me with gleaming eyes, his tender smile was enticing, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?

"Uh, hi."

Harbinger's POV

Damn that dog, and damn that girl, fuck this hurts. Thankfully Evee couldn't do too much damage before being called off. Whatever, I'll deal with like I always do. I need to hurry and get my shirt back on, it's too damn cold. Now, where did I put that bandage...I look up to see Liz standing before me, her face completely red. I guess I should give her a small smile, but I can feel my face warm up too. It's bad enough she's attractive, and that blushing face of hers makes her look so adorable...WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?! This isn't me. I can't fall for her...but would it really hurt? I suppose it wouldn't...no I can't jeopardize the mission.

"Uh, hi." She said softly fakely trying to remove her eyes from me. Dammit, she isn't making this easy.

"Can I help you?" I hope this will be enough to push her away.

"I-I just wanted to talk to you about what happened." Her face began to revert back to her normal color, and she shifted her gaze to the ground. I'm guessing they sent her as the 'ambassador'for lack of better words to remedy the situation. Typical.

"What would we have to talk about? You saw what happened." I said as I put my shirt back on, careful not to strain my shoulder. "They sent you to try and convince me to not kill Luna, didn't they?" I expected her face to be strained and confused but, she looked at me with false confidence.

"Look, I don't want her to die. But she's been bitten, so I understand what needs to happen. So no, they didn't send me for that." I could tell it hurt for her to say that. "I came on my own accord, I just wanna talk."

"Well I'm not the best people person, so coming over for a talk will probably just waste your time," I said, its plain as day what she's doing. She wants to know something, what that is though, I'm not sure.

"Well, I don't mind." I could hear a faint frustration growing in her voice.

"You seem really nice Liz, but I'm not big on keeping a conversation up." Shortening my replies should clue her in that I'm not interested.

"But-" She tried to say before I so rudely cut her off.

"No."

"Plea-"

"I said no!"

"Listen here, I don't give a flipping fuck how cool you think you are, I'm going to talk to you and you're going to like it. It's better than sitting over there and watching my sister kiss all over Luna." Did she really just say "flipping fuck?" in her feeble attempt to intimidate me, I follow along. Seeing that she won't give up, I'd rather not waste my energy trying to shoo her away. I just hope I can quell my feelings for her until this is all said and done.

"Okay, fine you got me." I moved my bag, opening a spot for her to sit. She came over and plopped down to my left. Shooting a quick glance at my shoulder before looking away. "Eh, it's nothing, I'll live." I could still feel blood trying to escape, not a huge concern, seeing as what did would only become scabs.

Over the next few minutes we sat in awkward silence, I would see her fidget her fingers constantly. Normally I could talk for hours about my interests and hobbies with my close friends, but that's because we shared common interests. I have no clue what Liz is into, and I feel if I were to try and talk about history or weapons I would lose her very quickly. What would she like? Fashion? Stuffed animals? Makeup?

"Hey, Harbinger?" Out of nowhere she suddenly broke the silence which honestly startled me. "Can I tell you about the first time I killed someone?" Under any normal setting that question would warrant an immediate arrest, but nowadays you just bear with it. Everyone has blood on their hands and we all deal with it our own way.

"Uh, sure." I'm not quite sure how to react to that question. Sure I've killed my fair share of both living and undead, but talking about it is still somewhat uneasy.

"Well, to start off I never liked guns, I hated the idea of them. I still don't, but that was before this all started." Well, talking about guns is a no-go.

"Isn't your dad a Navy Seal though?"

"Yeah, but I hated the idea of being able to hold something in your hands that could end someone's life so quickly. After a while, I adjusted to it though and I learned how to use a handgun." Her hands wrestled with one another at the statement, obviously, she still isn't a fan of them.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked, my interest growing, I've never met someone who hated guns, only to use them later. Like now it makes sense but before this, that's a head-scratcher.

"Well my mom and dad," The mention of her mother made me flinch, The only one who knows about that is Mason. "Convinced me that I should at least know how to use one in the event of a break-in or I were to get mugged on the street." All valid reasons. "So my dad gave me one of his and then taught me how to use it." This is all good and all but wasn't she telling me about her first kill? "But even now whenever I hold a gun my hands begin to tremble and I grow nervous."

"There's nothing to be nervous about guns. I can understand why, but in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, everything will be fine." Dammit, why did I say that? I'm trying to push her away, not reel her in.

"I tell myself that every day, that if I didn't use it, someone could get hurt." Her voice began to falter as tears began to fall. "H-had I used it when mom got bit, maybe I could have saved her. A-and if I used it earlier, I could have saved Luna." I wrap my arms around her and pulled her in...shit...well no going back now.

"There was nothing you could have done for Luna, It was my fault that she got bit." I tried to comfort her, rubbing her back, letting her cry on my injured shoulder.

"B-but had I been stronger, I could have done something. I had a bad feeling about this place, to begin with. And that feeling was amplified when we split up...I...I." She was almost hysterical at this point. Dammit, I gotta try and calm her down.

"I know things are really bad right now, but look to the future. Once you get back to Purgatory, you'll be safe. I promise."

"B-but Luna?"

"What happened is terrible, but we can't change that now." I hope I can get her on track back to the story. Get her mind off of this. "How about you finish telling me about your first kill." She didn't respond for awhile, it was only after she stopped crying is when she spoke up again.

"I- I didn't know what to do" she managed to scrape the words out of her mouth but found it hard to continue. I sensed her pain knowing where it came from and how it felt, but I had long abandoned my morality to ease my own life. Yet here sat this girl smaller than me in every way. Frame, strength, perhaps even intelligence but she still fought with her sins, still strove to instill her own morality in her developing mind in an undeveloped world. She showed a strength I felt I had lost when I was separated from my family. I rested a hand on her shoulder. A brief and somewhat awkward gesture but she grasped to it nonetheless. Liz lifted her head to rest it against my hand and feel the warmth of it. This interaction was awkward for both of us but wanted. As another moment of silence entered, Liz, gathered her courage to speak once more.

"My lover was there, BLEEDING and all I could do was stand above him in horror as I held a warm pistol in my right hand and what felt like the weight of the world in the other. Even though I sent every round into that bastards skull, even though I failed the very man who trusted his life with me... he still looked up at me and smiled. He said-" At this Liz's breath hitched once more as her emotions flowed out. I'm shocked at the girls quivering form. I damned myself for everything I've done, for even abandoning hope of my family surviving, but I can't abandon this girl. I embrace her, doing my best to comfort her. The sudden contact caused Liz to freeze in place wide-eyed and unsure of what to do.

"Go at your own pace, I'll be here to listen" I whispered into her ear. A small sniffle and she quietly finished her tale of that terrible day. Of how, Sabrina, Luna and her escaped, their mental breakdowns and adventures, even going as far as her life before the end, and the peaceful life she had sought with a strong caring husband who would help her at the drop of a hat. Our conversation lasted nearly an hour but as time drew on and we both seemed to grow to enjoy the rather one-sided conversation. But in the back of my mind more pressing matters were to be settled, and inevitably, in unfavorable ways.

Luna's POV

It's been an hour now, the burning grows ever more. The only thing is, by now my fingernails and teeth would begin to rot and fall out, but neither showed any sign of that. What does that mean? I'm pulled out of my mindscape by the shuffling of my still sleeping girlfriend. Sabrina fell asleep half an hour ago. I carefully laid her head on my lap, giving her head some better support. Trying to ignore the pain becomes more difficult every second. I find it easier if I reminisce about the times before this all started. The time I can spend with my family, the time I spent with Sabrina. Whenever everything was simple.

-Transition-

Five Years Ago

I was jamming out trying to find a new song for Christmas, and let me tell you, it's super hard. Trying to find the motivation for this song wasn't helped by Luan's puns. Or Lori's crazy obsession with opening presents. Or Leni going around trying to turn everything into a dress. Ugh, I can't get this stupid song! Maybe our newest sibling can help me out, Lily. She was born only a few months ago. I trudge past all the usual chaos of this crazy house. Lynn and Lucy were attempting to find where dad hid the presents, again. Lori was going crazy, Leni was showing off her garland dress. Luan was making her 12 puns of Christmas. Little Lise was attempting to disprove Santa Claus, Lana and Lola were arguing about something, again. And Lincoln was the only one who I couldn't see. Probably hiding away in his room. I'll let you in on a little secret, Lincoln is my favorite sibling. We share many common interests, namely music and I think I'm the reason behind that. When he was still a baby I hadn't found my rock lingo just yet, but I loved to play all the same. I would sing and play my toy guitar for him, and he would smile and laugh the whole time. Even his first word was "Wuna" which melted my heart. To this day we have jam sessions in the garage. Even though we argue, and I mostly take my sister's side against him. I would never hurt him, the thought of it alone hurts. I just wanna protect him for as long as possible. He's my little bro and I love him more than music...maybe…

I find myself downstairs in mom and dad's room. They keep Lily in here to protect her from the craziness. Where she'll be after that, probably Lisa's room. Since their the two youngest.

"Hey, Lily! Hows my adorable little sister doing." She looked up at me with her innocent eyes and babbled, waving her arms around. Oh my gosh, she's so adorable! "As cute as you are Lily, I'm not finding any motivation. Maybe if you come with me something will come to mind." I took her back up to my room, and thankfully it was empty. Don't get me wrong, I love Luan, just as much as all my other siblings. But a musician needs some peace while creating a masterpiece. I place Lily down next to me, letting her grab and pull on my shirt. The next 2 hours are a combination of trying to keep Lily from falling off the bed and come up with something that isn't super cheesy. My best friend and crush Sabrina is trying to help me whenever she can, but neither of us can figure anything out yet. It wasn't until I heard mom and dad shout that Lincoln called a family meeting downstairs. I grab Lily and head on down, once downstairs mom takes Lily, and I see Lincoln standing there with a bunch of gifts behind him.

"Hey guys, so in order to avoid the catastrophe that is Lori, tearing up our gifts, I want to give you mine early," Lincoln said, at which Lori pouted.

"What do you mean Lincoln?" Lynn was visibly exhausted from looking around for dads gifts.

"Today, Clyde and I went to the mall so I could buy you all gifts, I've been saving up for the past five years." He beamed proudly, his smile was super infectious.

"Five years?!" Lola and Lana said in unison.

"Yup! But enough delay lets get started!" He turned around and grabbed the first box, which was handed to Lori. She quickly opened it and her mouth dropped.

"Holy crap is the LPhone 8?!" He had enough to afford that?

"Yup, and with a Badger box case. Only thing is you need to go in with mom and dad after the holiday to get a plan set up."

"Thank you so much, little bro!" She gave him a brief hug before going back to mess with her new "toy." He gave out the rest of the gifts, Luan got tickets to go see her favorite comedian with Lincoln, Lynn got a football and a gift card to Galaxy Subs. Everyone else got things that they've been wanting, or it was something that they could relate too. But for some reason, I haven't gotten a gift yet. I guess he could see the growing disappointment on my face because he came over to me.

"Don't worry Luna, you got something too. Let me go get it real quick." He ran over to the fireplace and brought over what looked like a guitar case. "I hope you like it, Luna!" He looked at me with hopeful eyes. What I was expecting was a simple guitar, which I would use don't me wrong. But this, this was awesome!

"Lincoln this is a Logan V-85 Shredder!" It was an upgraded version of what I have now, but there was something special about it, right under the strings I saw a signature. 'To Luna Loud, a super cool rocker girl, Mick Swagger.' OH, MY GOD! An autograph from the Mick Swagger! "Lincoln, how did you get this?!" I asked, pulling him into a bear hug.

"I'm the man with the plan Luna, I wanted to make this the best gift ever! Turn it around, there's something on the back!" I flipped it over to find an engraving that said 'To the best rocker sister in the world, Luna Loud. Love Lincoln.' Tears of joy filled my eyes as I brought him in for another hug. "Thank you so much, bro, I love you!"

"I love you too Luna, Merry Christmas!"

-Transition-

Present Day

That gift was the best thing I've ever gotten, and I used it whenever I could. School concerts, home theme music, anywhere I was that needed music, it was with me. I still remember where I left it on the day this shit started too. Right on my bunk, so it'd be safe from the craziness that our house was. I could feel my eyes begin to swell at the thought of Lincoln and the house. My little brother that I'll never see again. The house I grew up in and took care of my family, where we laughed, and where we loved...I felt the tears fall, landing on Sabrina's hair. As my mind continued on about my life before this, the burning only grew worse. The pain quickly returned and caused a painful moan to leave my body. No, I have to think of something else. I wiped my face, trying not to wake Sabrina up. She needs her sleep, and I don't want her to see me crying, not again. Speaking of which, I still remember the day we first met, one of the best days of my life.

It was a Mick Swagger concert, being held outside so everyone was dancing around in a mosh pit. I was jamming out, as usual, nothing out of the extraordinary that is Mick Swagger. The night was only half way in so we still had a lot of fun ahead of us. I was there with my friend Sam and her boyfriend. We got separated, which wasn't surprising, so I kept on jamming. Being a mosh pit people are going to bump into you and stuff like that but this time when it happened I nearly fell over. At first, I was furious but kept on dancing. I was going to say something but then I saw her face, now I'm a believer in destiny. She was so beautiful, it had to be destiny that she bumped into me.

"Sorry dude, just jamming it out." Was all I could sputter out, I know, I'm such a smooth talker.

"N-no problem." She managed to say, looking super cute trying to hide her embarrassment. She began to tremble which worried me just a bit.

"Hey, dude are you okay?" I shouted, trying to make sure she could hear me.

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," She didn't even finish her sentence before taking off. My heart told me to chase after her, to talk to her. And I did, without giving it a second thought. I quickly followed her and caught up right before she got into car. As she turned around she spilled her heart out, and let me tell you. It was love at first sight. Of course, me being the smooth talker I am I responded with "I think you're pretty cool too, we should hang out sometime!" Thankfully it was enough. We went back and finished the night, which went on for a few more hours. Before leaving she gave me her number and smiled at me.

"Hey dudette, what's your name?" I called out, realizing that I never got it.

"Sabrina, whats yours?"

"Luna!" And we actually hung out the day after that, and so on. Every day after school she'd come over or I'd go to her house. Those were some of the best days of my life. I'm pulled back into reality by her shifting. And just looking down at her caused me to cry once again...I don't want to die! I want to live and be with Sabrina! I'll do anything to stay with her, I want to marry her, raise a family together. To watch our children grow and have families of their own. I want to grow old and die together! My chest became tight and the tears began to flow. I starting shaking because all of that has been stripped from me. All because of that stupid zombie...please...god, why is this happening? Why me? I don't want to die yet, not without Sabrina. PLEASE!

Mason's POV

I wake from my brief nap to see Luna becoming hysterical. In a very groggy attempt to kick Sabrina's foot to wake her up, I miss and overstretch my knee.

"Shit!" Being a 39-year-old man who walked through hell is not easy. Fortunately, my response woke Sabrina, which in turn helped Luna begin to calm down. Fuck yeah, my pain brings calm to others… or something like that. But in all seriousness I don't know what we're going to do about Luna...maybe...nope sleep time.

"SEAL Team four, what's your status?" Our CIA contact by the name of Chieftain requested a report on our current mission. Which would have been fine and dandy, but seeing as we're currently deep within enemy territory that's an issue.

"Be better if you didn't bother us every five minutes. We'll notify you once we arrive." We're a team of four sent to uncover secret bioweapon operations from the drug cartel known as Ángeles de la Muerte. A drug cartel which specialized in Cocaine production, and human trafficking, you know, the usual. They controlled the Bolivian government and worked behind the scenes supplying wealth for the government and neighboring countries. For the past six years its been suspected that they have been attempting to create a bioweapon. Why they needed a bioweapon didn't matter, what did is if they got one. Finally, last year an undercover CIA agent found evidence that high ranking officials in the Bolivian government were working closely with the Drug cartel to create a bioweapon, to show their dominance in the world. Another North Korea if you ask me. Regardless the agent was successfully extracted, and they began forming a team to take down the cartel leaders. Toppling the operation entirely. They chose four of the best men they could find for the job. Myself, Mason Carter being a support specialist I was placed in charge I went by the name Baron. James Smith, who was the Sniper and weapon specialist, my closest friend. He went by the name Black Death. Don't let the name fool you, he talked, a lot but he always meant well. His skills with his rifle made him the perfect candidate. Dante Rodriguez was our team engineer and drone specialist, going by the name of Bolt, his accomplishments often made us believe he could do this operation alone. He was cool, calm, and collected, and often the mediator for the team. Finally Adrian Jones, our combat specialist, and vehicle engineer. Going by the name of Clanker he was the youngest of us, but just as mature. Were it not for him, we would have died three days ago. We were pinned down, with no escape, the vehicle before we filled with holes. He worked his magic though and got us the hell out of there. I've been working with them for three months, and there's no one I'd rather have at my side. As of now, we've taken down three lieutenants, but we still have twelve to go before we can take down the Drug Lord. So far we haven't found anything regarding this new bio-weapon, and we're hoping that the compound we're assaulting now has something.

"Baron, what's the plan?" Bolt asked checking his weapon.

"We move in quietly, keep weapons cool until we're ready to go loud. Clanker, secure a vehicle for extraction. Once done regroup with Bolt and me. Death, find a solid position and keep overwatch. Bolt and I we'll move in and find what we need. Understood?" They nodded in agreement, sending green lights across my visors HUD. Not even a moment later an alarm rang throughout the province. We looked to the sky to see a missile launching into the atmosphere.

"Think that's the bioweapon?"

"SEAL team 4, retreat now. I don't know what that missile is, but take precautions. Equip your gas masks and return immediately.

"Roger that Chieftain. You heard him, masks on, let's go!" We had to quietly trek back through the brush we came in through. Halfway back we looked up to the sky to see an explosion. We figured that the missile failed. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Once we returned after 30 minutes of a stealthy retreat a lone helicopter waited for us, but the pilot was dead and Chieftain laid before it in a coughing fit.

"Run…" His final word faded as he passed.

"What the hell?" Bolt asked, about to remove his mask.

"Stop! Look what just happened. Whatever that explosion was, I have a feeling it caused this. Keep the mask on, Clanker, can you fly that thing?"

"It's a UH-60 Blackhawk, of course, I can." He removed the pilot's body and began the pre-flight checks. After everything was ready we boarded the vehicle and we took off. "Where are we going?"

"There should be a fall back point 50 miles to the north. We head there and discuss our next plan." The farther away we got the less damage we saw. It seems that it was only meant for the immediate area. Again things aren't always as they seem. As we landed we heard the news that several other missiles have launched and are currently racing across the globe.

"How is that possible?" A technician asked, in complete disbelief of what was about to happen.

"Using their money they most likely acquired old missiles and refurbished them." Bolt said placing his head in his hands. It took a toll on all of us.

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper."

-Transition-

Sometime Later

"Daddy, wake up please!" I was pulled from my nap by my youngest daughter Liz, she was shaking me rather violently. I quickly look around to see Sabrina yelling at Harbinger, Luna barely keeping consciousness, and Harbinger holding his sidearm. I notice the map I gave to Liz laying next to me, I hope she got what I needed. Bah! Least of my concern now, I have to defuse this situation now. I quickly stand and place myself between them.

"I've told you this already! She isn't showing any symptoms. She won't turn!" Sabrina shouted at the man trying to keep his composure.

"That doesn't mean anything, some people don't show signs of turning. They just pass out and die!" The tension between these two is stronger than the US and Russia in the cold war, this needs to stop.

"Sabrina, what do you mean she doesn't have any of the symptoms?" I also have no clue what these two are talking about. After I found the cabin I stayed there for a better part of this shit. I had little interaction with anyone else.

"When people are bitten, their fingernails and teeth fall out, the whites of their eyes turn yellow, the skin becomes flaky and gray. And their fingers turn black and wither up, but none of that has happened, plus its been just about 3 hours." She said as I held her back from killing Harbinger.

"Again, I've seen people show no symptoms and still turn, dammit just let me kill her!" Harbinger said with ferocity, breaking his composure.

"NO, she won't turn!" She had Evee by the collar, if she didn't, I think she would have pounced on Harbinger.

"ENOUGH! Harbinger stand down!" I bellowed through the building. "If there aren't any symptoms then they won't turn."

"Look at her, she's on the verge of passing out. Once that happens it's over, she'll turn and kill us all." His arms were now visibly shaking from anger. This is getting bad, fast. I wish James were here. Unfortunately, my entire team died, one by one on our way back to Royal Woods. We snuck onto the last plane to the US. We landed in Miami and took our last flight to Cherry Capital Airport. As we landed all flights were indefinitely grounded. That's when shit hit the fan, and to cut things short, I was the only one who made back into the Royal Woods city limit.

"STAND DOWN, both of you!"

"Shut up old man! If we don't kill her now it'll come back to bite us in the ass. Out of everyone here I figured you would be the one to see that."

"I can see plain as day that she won't turn, so I'll tell you once more. Stand. Down!" I could feel the tension between us near its limit. Both of us were filled with pure rage and devotion. His hatred and pain very apparent in his tired eyes, unfortunately, that will be his downfall.

"Harbinger, please, don't do this," Liz spoke out, attempting to reach him. And for a brief moment, it worked.

"Liz, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. Please forgive me." Sorry for what? Not a second passed before he brought the gun up to my face. How the tables have turned, but as quick as he brought it up I knocked it away. The gun to landed next to Liz, and to my mistake, I glanced at it. He took advantage of that and began the fight, bringing his fist straight to my face. My head snaps back from the blow and he followed up by pounding at my chest, causing me to backstep and lose my balance. Doing well not to step on Sabrina I stomp down and raise my arms. His assault continues. He jumped back, quickly spinning around, his foot met the side of my head. Nearly falling over I have but a moment to defend myself. I wasted that moment as he hit my face, making me fall before my daughter.

"I've learned from our previous fight. While I may not outmatch you, I can outmaneuver you."

"You've got a lot to learn kid." I regain my composure and brace myself for his next attack.

"Come on, fight me. I won't lose again!" He came at me with ferocity, moving in a way that showed he was self-taught. Without the knowledge of actual stances and moves, I can exploit that weakness and use that to my advantage. He begins throwing wild punches, typical street fighter. I move my arms to block each one he throws, I move in and using my back leg I kick out his knee, causing him to falter and lose his stance. I immediately follow up with a quick shoulder charge, pushing him back even farther. I quickly stepped back to regain my composure. His pride diminished from my defense and came in with a jab. He was using his right arm and I could see the force behind it, good. I countered it by grasping onto it and using his own momentum to toss him over my shoulder. An audible gasp could be heard leaving his body, he doesn't stay grounded for long. He quickly gets up and wipes the blood from his mouth. He runs at me, using the exact same attack as before I block and step back, followed with a spinning backhand across his face. He falls against a shelf, realizing what had just happened he grabbed the nearest item and threw it at me. I catch it and see a potato chip on the front. I didn't see the kick followed by it until it was too late. My stomach receives a powerful blow, pain reverberated around my entire abdomen. Forcing down the contents of my empty stomach I throw the bag to the ground and try to defend myself. Uppercutting my jaw I taste metal as my tongue begins to throb. I step back and regain balance only to be kicked again this time feeling my ribs break. This is bad.

Harbingers POV

I've got him, I kick again and again and again. Each kick keeping him from falling down, I step quickly and jump up delivering my knee straight into his chin. Knocking him on his ass gives me a chance to regain composure. And any normal person would have stayed down, not him, he burst from the ground. Before I could react he tackled me, forcing me to the ground and he tried beating my face in. Using both of my arms I put up a solid defense. Shit, if I don't do something quick he'll kill me. I used my left hand and pushed against his face, causing him to grasp at it. Which gave me the opportunity to use my free hand and grab my knife. I pulled it from the protective sheath and drove the blade right into his side, below the rib cage.

"Argh!" He shouted out and reared back. The knife still there I lift my knees and kick him away. I scramble back and without giving him a chance I attacked.

"PLEASE STOP!" Liz's cries fell silent, my mind was ensnared by murderous intent. I aim my next kick to the knife and succeed. Forcing it even deeper into his breaking form. He desperately grabs at it, only to find it fully enveloped within his body. His screams rang throughout the building as tears fell from his eyes. Never in my life have I heard such screams of pain, and it scared me, to be honest. I kept that knife within good distance because it was only a matter of time until he overpowered me. I look at the ground and see my gun was resting next to Liz's feet. Knowing it could end this whole thing I move for it. As I pick it up I find Liz to be paralyzed, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry Liz." No response was given, I can't blame her. After this she'll hate me, whatever relationship we formed today has been eradicated. And I'll go back to being the lone wanderer, taking random contracts and living the rest of my days fighting. And for what? This world is fucked as it is, and nothing can change that. Once I return these two to Purgatory, I'll take the money and leave even if I have to do it at gunpoint. If the girls don't kill me that is. Regardless I need to focus on what's happening now, the bleak future can wait. Using my left hand I aim the gun at Mason, who's still writhing in pain, trying to pry the knife from within him. This is it, he dies now. A sudden pain erupted through my right arm, preceded by violent jerking and growling. I see Evee tearing into my arm, and in my fit of anger and pain I aim between her eyes and pull the trigger. Without giving it much thought I just killed their dog. She let out a small whimper as she fell limp to the ground. Her legs twitched for a short time before the last of her life force left for heaven. I really just killed her...I just killed their dog...oh god...h-how could I? Both my arms went weak as the realization hit me. Visions of my own canines danced in my head, seeing them in her position...why? I-I...

"EVEE!" Both Mason and Sabrina painfully shouted, pulling me back to reality. I look up just in time to see Mason charge me. He grabs my weapon and forcibly rips it from my grasp, breaking my hand in the process. That was the least of my concerns, because his fist slammed into my chest, forcing me back into the wall. Shattering the transparent door that once housed dairy products. Shards of glass litter my body, and I try to stand only to be kicked in the chest, pushing me deeper in the now collapsed shelving. He grabs my shirt, pulling me from the unit and throws me to the ground, this time pounding my chest. With every hit, I can feel my heart begin to falter. Each breath only causing more pain, and becoming shorter, if I don't end this now... In his blind rage, he can't see me reaching for my second knife. Backup in case this got out of hand. I remove it from the nylon hilt and bury it into his lung. He cried out in pain, stopping the assault for only a moment. Using the time I had I tried to take a deep breath, which caused a strong tightness in my chest. My body began to freak out, not understanding why I can't breathe. I see him grab the knife ripping it out, causing an almost vacuum-like sound. Glaring at me I knew my time was up. I see that he's in complete control, to which I smile. I'm ready to embrace the end. I've been fighting for far too long. He delivered a powerful blow to my head, which was followed by a sudden, and sharp pain erupting throughout my chest. Everything around me stopped. My squirming legs fell quiet and my arms no longer had the strength to fight and crashed to the ground. Mason, my killer, or perhaps savior, fell to the ground next to me. Everything began to fade to black, and then my life flashed before my eyes. My first memory, me and my siblings running around, my tenth birthday, Lincoln Loud and his family giving me the contract, and staring into Liz's beautiful eyes. Every story she told me only a few hours ago made me fall for her even more. But was it really love? Tears strolled down my face, not from the pain, but from life. This crazy fucked up world finally got me, tore me away from Liz, perhaps even finding my family once more. I only hope she fights on and makes it back to Purgatory with her family. I pray that my family is still alive fighting and living the life I wish they could have had without me. Whatever happens, please god, don't take Liz.

"I'm s-sorry Liz, I don't know if what we had was truly love, but I would have liked to try..."

Liz's POV

"Daddy!" I could feel my legs move for me, taking me to my dad's side. Sabrina was on his other side, holding back her tears. I quickly glance at Luna to see she's already passed out…

"Liz…" I heard my dad sputter out through blood, he looked at me before grabbing the knife from Harbingers chest. Pulling it out only to ram it into Harbingers head, I flinch at the sight. I can't believe he's dead, w-we were supposed to get married. He was the one, the one who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. He made me feel special and knows he gone. I failed to protect him like I did the first...and Evee's dead too...oh god why? Why is this happening to me?

I bring my tired eyes back to my dying father, now in the arms of Sabrina. He caressed her face as tears fell.

"Liz…" He said through ragged breaths as blood trickled from his mouth. He gave a smile similar to that of mom, my first love, and even Harbinger on their deathbeds. "You know sugar I hated the bastard but so did your mother's father with me…" He wheezed as he struggled to collect air to speak once more. "I'm sorry it had to be this way." His eyes drift back up to my broken sister, who was doing her best not to hold back her sorrowful tears. "I love you too, so very much. More than you ever know, please be strong and survive this mess." His words becoming quieter, "Don't cry for me, for I get to see your mother again…" His eyes slowly closed. "Goodbye, I love-" He passed in Sabrina's arms.

"I love you too dad." Her words riddled with pain. She placed him down gently and came over to Harbinger. She attempted to remove the knife but found difficulty doing so. After her fifth attempt, it released itself from his corpse, his head followed before falling back down almost bouncing off the floor. No words were spoken as she drove the knife into our fathers head. First, mom, then him, then Evee, then Harbinger, and now dad...I can't do this anymore. I've lost too many people…I glance down and see the gun resting next to Evee...

Sabrina's POV

I'm so sorry dad, I gaze upon his dead body and remember all the times we spent together. Laughing, having fun, hunting, getting yelled at by mom. And now, I would never get to feel his loving embrace or the fatherly love he so tenderly gave us again. He was gone forever, but hopefully, now he can be with mom. I tear my eyes away, holding back the tears so desperately trying to escape. Only to be met with Evee's corpse...why did I let her attack? It's my fault she's dead...n-no, it's Harbingers. If he had just listened, none of this would happen. Now he, my dad and Evee are dead, and Luna's passed out. Why did this happen? How could God let this happen to us? Was this his plan?

"D-d-daddy." I'm pulled from my trance to see Liz, who was now hysterical. It seemed her and Harbinger bonded, and seeing him dead must remind her of her first love interest. After seeing mom die, and now dad, plus Evee it has to be taking a toll on her. "W-why?" She croaked letting tears stream down her face. I need to say something quick. I stand up and begin walking towards her.

"Sis, I'm sorr-"

"NO, I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Her voice creaked like the metal door guarding this place. Quickly backing up towards Evee's corpse. She bent down and picked up the weapon resting next to our now resting canine, what is she doing… wait. LIZ! "I'm sorry Sabrina, I love you!" And before I could her she brought the gun to her head and pulled the trigger...LIZ!

I rush to her side and catch her just as she fell. As I held onto Liz I felt her warmth begin to fade. My tears turned to cries of frustration. "Dammit! Fuck you Harbinger! Fuck you, god! Fuck all of you! My hysteric shouts then faded into sobbing as I cradled the head of my baby sister. Through the muddled sobs and bleary eyes, I glanced at the corpse of Harbinger. "Dammit, Liz how could fall for someone like that, why?" My moments of agony felt like centuries, I had lost everything, everyone, my aching heart can't handle this anymore I have nothing left. My eyes hardened on the steel weapon in Liz's cold hand. I brought it to my chin. One last look around me gave proof that everything was reality. My father, my baby sister, a merc who could have been a friend under different circumstances, and my lover all dead.

The trigger seemed comforting as I squeezed it slowly. As the mechanism shifted I shut my eyes. *Click*

The horrifying sound echoed throughout the stillness of the world around me.

"No no no!"

*Click*

*Click*

*Click*

The chamber had shut itself on an empty mag when Liz had dropped it. Out of energy, I fell limp myself.

"Why? Just kill me too! Just take me already!"

"Sabrina?" Suddenly my pulse quickened as adrenaline returned to my veins. Luna had stirred awake.


End file.
